American Tower Corporation $AMT Shares Sold by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Key Points

• Handelsbanken Fonder AB reduced its American Tower stake by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 5,706 shares and ending with 203,533 shares valued at about $35.7 million.
• Institutional ownership in American Tower remains very high at 92.69%, and several other large investors recently made big moves in the stock, including major stake increases by Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management and Lazard Asset Management.
• Recent company developments were generally positive: Bernstein upgraded AMT to Outperform with a $207 price target, American Tower priced a €750 million senior notes offering, and its latest earnings beat estimates with $2.84 EPS and revenue growth of 6.8% year over year.

Handelsbanken Fonder AB trimmed its stake in American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT - Free Report) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 203,533 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 5,706 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings in American Tower were worth $35,734,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AMT. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in American Tower by 20,721.6% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 9,712,672 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,705,254,000 after purchasing an additional 9,666,025 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in American Tower by 1,984.8% during the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 4,464,382 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $858,552,000 after acquiring an additional 4,250,242 shares during the period. Viking Global Investors LP grew its position in American Tower by 233.5% during the second quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 2,797,125 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $618,221,000 after acquiring an additional 1,958,329 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC purchased a new stake in American Tower during the third quarter valued at about $305,872,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in American Tower by 35.0% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,796,007 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $537,728,000 after acquiring an additional 724,504 shares during the period. 92.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting American Tower

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

• Positive Sentiment: Bernstein upgraded American Tower (AMT) to Outperform from Market Perform and lifted its price target to $207, signaling roughly 17% upside and reinforcing optimism around the tower REIT group. Bernstein turns bullish on American Tower, sees 17% upside
• Positive Sentiment: American Tower also announced pricing for a €750 million senior notes offering due 2033 at 4.000%, giving it access to long-term capital and suggesting management is continuing to fund growth and refinance efficiently. American Tower Corporation Prices Senior Notes Offering
• Neutral Sentiment: The company presented at the J.P. Morgan Global Technology, Media and Communications Conference, which may have kept investors focused on its growth outlook, but no major new financial details were disclosed in the transcript. American Tower Corporation (AMT) Presents at J.P. Morgan Conference Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader sector commentary continues to highlight American Tower as a beneficiary of demand for connectivity and infrastructure, but this is more of a longer-term thesis than a near-term catalyst. Data Center REITs: One Of My Highest-Conviction Calls

Insider Buying and Selling at American Tower

In other American Tower news, EVP Ruth T. Dowling sold 416 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.54, for a total transaction of $73,856.64. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 29,461 shares in the company, valued at $5,230,505.94. This represents a 1.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Eugene M. Noel sold 41,209 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.05, for a total value of $7,872,979.45. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 29,592 shares in the company, valued at $5,653,551.60. The trade was a 58.20% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 42,181 shares of company stock worth $8,046,071 over the last quarter. 0.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on American Tower from $225.00 to $220.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Mizuho raised American Tower from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $189.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Weiss Ratings raised American Tower from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on American Tower from $245.00 to $240.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on American Tower from $200.00 to $195.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $216.20.

American Tower Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AMT opened at $182.86 on Wednesday. American Tower Corporation has a 1-year low of $165.08 and a 1-year high of $234.33. The business has a 50-day moving average of $177.48 and a 200-day moving average of $179.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company has a market capitalization of $85.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.54, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.90.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $1.24. The firm had revenue of $2.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.66 billion. American Tower had a return on equity of 27.79% and a net margin of 26.81%.American Tower's revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.75 earnings per share. American Tower has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.900-11.07 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that American Tower Corporation will post 10.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 14th were issued a $1.79 dividend. This is an increase from American Tower's previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. This represents a $7.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 14th. American Tower's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 115.67%.

American Tower Company Profile

American Tower NYSE: AMT is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns, operates and develops wireless and broadcast communications infrastructure. The company's core business is leasing space on communications sites — including towers, rooftops and other structures — to wireless carriers, broadcasters, government agencies and enterprise customers. Its business model centers on long-term site leases and contracts that provide recurring revenue tied to the footprint and density of wireless networks.

Beyond traditional tower assets, American Tower offers a range of infrastructure and network services to support mobile, broadband and broadcast connectivity.

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