Jennison Associates LLC Acquires Shares of 7,034 SBA Communications Co. (NASDAQ:SBAC)

Jennison Associates LLC bought a new position in shares of SBA Communications Co. (NASDAQ:SBAC) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 7,034 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,693,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SBAC. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in SBA Communications by 13.4% in the second quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,973,867 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $387,470,000 after buying an additional 233,179 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of SBA Communications by 2,821.5% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,216,094 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $292,714,000 after acquiring an additional 1,174,469 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in SBA Communications by 15.5% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,190,288 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $233,654,000 after purchasing an additional 159,433 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in SBA Communications by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 986,487 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $213,773,000 after purchasing an additional 33,507 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in SBA Communications by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 874,945 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $210,600,000 after purchasing an additional 72,255 shares during the last quarter. 97.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Donald Day sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.86, for a total value of $364,290.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,998 shares in the company, valued at $1,213,814.28. This represents a 23.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

SBA Communications Trading Up 0.6 %

SBAC stock opened at $220.66 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $234.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $217.32. 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 $23.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.80, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.68.

SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The technology company reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.17 by ($0.77). The company had revenue of $667.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $669.29 million. SBA Communications had a net margin of 25.76% and a negative return on equity of 13.13%. SBA Communications’s revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.34 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that SBA Communications Co. will post 12.56 earnings per share for the current year.

SBA Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. SBA Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SBAC. Barclays increased their target price on shares of SBA Communications from $236.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on SBA Communications from $228.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. StockNews.com raised SBA Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. TD Cowen increased their price target on SBA Communications from $251.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of SBA Communications from $230.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SBA Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $257.23.

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.