8,554 American Tower Corporation $AMT Shares Sold by Sterling Capital Management LLC

Sterling Capital Management LLC lowered its position in shares of American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT) by 20.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 32,807 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 8,554 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $5,553,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMT. Inspire Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Tower by 248,000.0% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 9,924 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,624,000 after purchasing an additional 9,920 shares in the last quarter. XXI Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of American Tower by 9.6% in the third quarter. XXI Wealth LLC now owns 4,245 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $695,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of American Tower by 6.8% in the third quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 66,395 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $11,452,000 after purchasing an additional 4,222 shares during the last quarter. MBL Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Tower by 415.1% during the third quarter. MBL Wealth LLC now owns 8,205 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,343,000 after purchasing an additional 6,612 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Demars Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in American Tower by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 5,732 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $938,000 after buying an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho set a $208.00 price objective on shares of American Tower in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on shares of American Tower from $214.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of American Tower from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of American Tower from $210.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $207.00 target price (down from $208.00) on shares of American Tower in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Tower currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $214.90.

American Tower Trading Up 4.2%

American Tower stock opened at $189.25 on Friday. American Tower Corporation has a 12-month low of $160.06 and a 12-month high of $202.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.88. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $174.69 and a 200 day moving average of $175.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.12.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $1.14. The business had revenue of $2.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. American Tower had a net margin of 31.08% and a return on equity of 32.76%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.60 earnings per share. American Tower has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.000-11.170 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that American Tower Corporation will post 10.80 earnings per share for the current year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were given a dividend of $1.79 per share. This represents a $7.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 30th. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 98.49%.

American Tower News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting American Tower this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Reports that SpaceX may pursue approximately 80,000 cell sites to support a nationwide wireless service boosted the outlook for tower operators. American Tower could benefit from new tenants, higher site utilization and incremental recurring rental revenue. SpaceX Talks Send Cell Tower Stocks Surging
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are also citing strong data-center leasing momentum at American Tower’s CoreSite business, adding a second growth catalyst alongside 5G deployments and traditional tower leasing. American Tower climbs as data-center leasing hits fresh records
• Positive Sentiment: Before its upcoming third-quarter report, analysts expect revenue and adjusted funds from operations to benefit from 5G activity, leasing demand and data-center growth. The company’s prior quarter exceeded earnings expectations and revenue increased year over year.
• Neutral Sentiment: Director Teresa Hillary Clarke disclosed several small purchases of American Tower shares, including a recent purchase at approximately $183 per share. The buying provides a modest confidence signal, but the transactions are small relative to the company’s market value and several disclosed trades are older.
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation concerns remain: an analyst recently reduced the price target, while commentary suggested American Tower’s former valuation discount has largely disappeared. This could limit further gains if quarterly results or guidance fail to exceed expectations. American Tower price target cut by Sanford C. Bernstein

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Ruth T. Dowling sold 1,106 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.96, for a total value of $193,505.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 27,711 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,848,316.56. This represents a 3.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Rajesh Kalathur purchased 2,829 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $177.00 per share, with a total value of $500,733.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 7,765 shares in the company, valued at $1,374,405. This represents a 57.31% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders have sold 6,791 shares of company stock worth $1,204,091 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

About American Tower

American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT) is a real estate investment trust that owns, operates and develops wireless communications infrastructure. Its portfolio primarily includes communications towers, rooftop sites, distributed antenna systems and other infrastructure used by wireless carriers, broadcasters, governments and businesses to support voice, data and video communications.

The company leases space on its sites to multiple customers, allowing them to install antennas and related equipment without building and maintaining individual tower locations.