American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) Holdings Boosted by Independence Bank of Kentucky

Independence Bank of Kentucky grew its holdings in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT) by 30.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,949 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,859 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky’s holdings in American Tower were worth $1,571,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AMT. Cross Staff Investments Inc boosted its stake in shares of American Tower by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 5,027 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,085,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC grew its stake in American Tower by 57.7% in the fourth quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 35,751 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,718,000 after purchasing an additional 13,074 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of American Tower by 38.1% during the 4th quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC now owns 76,625 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $16,542,000 after purchasing an additional 21,139 shares in the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. acquired a new stake in shares of American Tower during the 1st quarter valued at about $801,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in American Tower by 23.2% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 275,428 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $59,459,000 after acquiring an additional 51,882 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Sanjay Goel sold 3,504 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.36, for a total value of $702,061.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,692,828.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other American Tower news, Director Robert D. Hormats sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.50, for a total value of $128,450.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,332 shares in the company, valued at $1,345,422. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Sanjay Goel sold 3,504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.36, for a total transaction of $702,061.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,692,828.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on AMT shares. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of American Tower from $228.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Barclays lowered their price objective on American Tower from $234.00 to $223.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. StockNews.com lowered American Tower from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Scotiabank lowered their price target on American Tower from $243.00 to $223.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of American Tower from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $226.00 to $248.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Tower presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $220.91.

American Tower Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AMT traded down $0.94 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $194.38. The company had a trading volume of 2,393,894 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,347,319. American Tower Co. has a 12 month low of $154.58 and a 12 month high of $219.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market cap of $90.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.98, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.79. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $188.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $195.14.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.43 by ($0.47). The firm had revenue of $2.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.79 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 18.45% and a net margin of 18.42%. American Tower’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.54 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that American Tower Co. will post 10.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. American Tower’s payout ratio is currently 146.61%.

About American Tower

American Tower, one of the largest global REITs, is a leading independent owner, operator and developer of multitenant communications real estate with a portfolio of over 224,000 communications sites and a highly interconnected footprint of U.S. data center facilities.