Sterling Capital Management LLC Sells 8,554 Shares of American Tower Corporation $AMT

Sterling Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT) by 20.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,807 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 8,554 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in American Tower were worth $5,553,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in American Tower during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Allied Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in American Tower during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Tower in the second quarter worth about $33,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of American Tower in the third quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new stake in shares of American Tower in the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.69% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about American Tower

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on AMT. Mizuho set a $208.00 price target on shares of American Tower in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of American Tower from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of American Tower from $225.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $207.00 target price (down from $208.00) on shares of American Tower in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on American Tower from $214.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $214.90.

American Tower Stock Performance

NYSE:AMT opened at $189.25 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $174.69 and a 200 day moving average of $175.73. The company has a market capitalization of $88.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.03, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.88. American Tower Corporation has a 1-year low of $160.06 and a 1-year high of $202.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.12, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.52.

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

American Tower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were given a dividend of $1.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $7.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio is presently 98.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Robert Joseph Meyer sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.89, for a total transaction of $894,450.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,428 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,833,254.92. The trade was a 18.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rajesh Kalathur bought 2,829 shares of American Tower stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $177.00 per share, for a total transaction of $500,733.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 7,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,374,405. This trade represents a 57.31% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 6,791 shares of company stock worth $1,204,091. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

American Tower Profile

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.