Emerald Advisers LLC Buys 285 Shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI)

Emerald Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 241,534 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 285 shares during the quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC’s holdings in Cogent Communications were worth $18,615,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,114,596 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $394,182,000 after purchasing an additional 43,523 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in Cogent Communications by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 44,066 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,396,000 after buying an additional 3,198 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in Cogent Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $709,000. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Cogent Communications during the 4th quarter worth $46,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cogent Communications during the fourth quarter worth $281,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.45% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Cogent Communications

In related news, Director Lewis H. Ferguson sold 956 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.36, for a total value of $66,308.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,293,702.72. This represents a 4.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.57, for a total value of $174,168.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 41,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,975,370. The trade was a 5.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 11,681 shares of company stock valued at $840,878. Corporate insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Cogent Communications Trading Down 1.0 %

CCOI opened at $68.31 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 87.58 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.87. Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $50.80 and a twelve month high of $86.76. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.84.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The technology company reported ($0.91) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.22) by $0.31. Cogent Communications had a net margin of 3.73% and a negative return on equity of 36.31%. The business had revenue of $252.29 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $258.49 million. Analysts predict that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a $1.005 dividend. This is a positive change from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $4.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.88%. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -93.49%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cogent Communications to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $80.25.

Cogent Communications Profile

Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides high-speed Internet access, private network, and data center colocation space services in North America, Europe, Oceania, South America, and Africa. The company offers on-net Internet access and private network services to law firms, financial services firms, and advertising and marketing firms, as well as heath care providers, educational institutions and other professional services businesses, other Internet service providers, telephone companies, cable television companies, web hosting companies, media service providers, mobile phone operators, content delivery network companies, and commercial content and application service providers.