8,139 Shares in SBA Communications Co. (NASDAQ:SBAC) Acquired by Virtu Financial LLC

Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in SBA Communications Co. (NASDAQ:SBAC) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 8,139 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,764,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of SBA Communications by 54.9% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,300,157 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $931,844,000 after purchasing an additional 1,524,302 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of SBA Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $286,079,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of SBA Communications by 111.8% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 734,795 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $186,410,000 after purchasing an additional 387,855 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of SBA Communications by 144.7% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 359,736 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $77,955,000 after purchasing an additional 212,739 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new position in shares of SBA Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $53,679,000. Institutional investors own 97.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on SBAC shares. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of SBA Communications from $290.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of SBA Communications from $240.00 to $236.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of SBA Communications from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of SBA Communications in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $212.00 price target for the company. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of SBA Communications from $227.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $240.83.

SBA Communications Price Performance

SBAC stock traded up $2.57 during trading on Friday, reaching $229.73. The company had a trading volume of 1,866,518 shares, compared to its average volume of 964,660. SBA Communications Co. has a 52 week low of $183.64 and a 52 week high of $258.76. The company has a market cap of $24.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.94, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.65. The business has a 50 day moving average of $199.60 and a 200 day moving average of $206.99.

SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by ($0.56). SBA Communications had a negative return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 19.22%. The company had revenue of $660.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $665.21 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.24 earnings per share. SBA Communications’s quarterly revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that SBA Communications Co. will post 12.53 earnings per share for the current year.

SBA Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. SBA Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 76.86%.

About SBA Communications

SBA Communications Corporation is a leading independent owner and operator of wireless communications infrastructure including towers, buildings, rooftops, distributed antenna systems (DAS) and small cells. With a portfolio of more than 39,000 communications sites throughout the Americas, Africa and in Asia, SBA is listed on NASDAQ under the symbol SBAC.