A cluster of SEC Form 4 filings submitted on March 12 revealed that American Tower Corporation executives sold more than $21 million in company stock over a six-week period — a pace of insider selling that stands out even by the standards of a company where insider sales are routine.
By comparison, total insider sales for all of 2025 came to roughly $5 million, meaning executives have already sold more than four times as much in the first ten weeks of 2026 as they did in the entire prior year.
The transactions, which span mid-February through early March, involved the company’s top leadership. The CEO, COO, CFO, Chief Accounting Officer, and General Counsel all reduced their holdings within weeks of each other. The selling came on the heels of a 2026 revenue guidance miss that disappointed Wall Street and amid unresolved legal disputes that have already cost the company hundreds of millions in withheld revenue.
The American Tower Stock Sales
The largest single transaction was by EVP and Chief Operating Officer Eugene (Bud) M. Noel, who sold 41,209 shares on March 2 at an average price of $191.05, collecting approximately $7.87 million and reducing his direct stake by roughly 58%.
CEO Steven O. Vondran sold 33,482 shares on March 4 in three separate open-market transactions at prices ranging from $187.31 to $190.09 per share, for total proceeds of approximately $6.31 million. After the sales, Vondran retained 105,374 shares.
CFO Rodney M. Smith sold 34,341 shares on February 17 at an average price of $192.09, generating approximately $6.60 million. EVP, Chief Administrative Officer, General Counsel and Secretary Ruth T. Dowling sold shares in two separate transactions — 656 shares on February 27 and 682 on March 4 — for combined proceeds of roughly $250,000. SVP and Chief Accounting Officer Robert Joseph Meyer sold 4,454 shares on February 27 at $186.73 per share, totaling approximately $831,000.
All of the open-market sales were executed under pre-established trading plans, which insiders adopt in advance to demonstrate that transactions are not based on material non-public information.
The Backdrop
The selling coincided with a difficult stretch for American Tower’s stock and business outlook. When the company reported its fourth-quarter 2025 results on February 24, it beat earnings expectations — but its 2026 revenue guidance fell well short of analyst forecasts. The company projected full-year property revenue at $10.515 billion, significantly below the $10.959 billion Wall Street consensus. Shares fell on the news.
Dish and Mexico are in the Mix
Compounding the guidance miss is an ongoing legal dispute with AT&T Mexico, which has withheld tower rent payments since the beginning of 2025. That revenue had amounted to approximately $300 million annually, and arbitration is not scheduled until August 2026, meaning the uncertainty will hang over the company for months. Separately, DISH Wireless recently defaulted on its collocation agreement, adding another layer of contractual uncertainty.
American Tower’s stock has traded near the lower end of its 52-week range, from $166.88 to $234.33, suggesting insiders are locking in proceeds at prices well off the company’s highs.
The One Buyer
Against the tide of executive selling, one insider moved in the opposite direction. Director Rajesh Kalathur purchased 2,671 shares on March 10 at $185.30 per share, investing approximately $494,936. The buy carries some added weight given Kalathur’s background. He retired in January 2026 after nearly 30 years at Deere & Company, where he served as CFO and President of John Deere Financial, departing as the agriculture giant navigated a sharp earnings downturn, with net income falling from $10.2 billion in fiscal 2023 to $5 billion in fiscal 2025. In other words, this is someone who knows how to read a balance sheet, and he chose to put his own money into AMT shares near a 52-week low. As the old Wall Street adage popularized by Peter Lynch goes: insiders sell for many reasons, but they buy for only one.
