Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) Shares Bought by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI - Free Report) by 17.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 256,871 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 37,708 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.52% of Cogent Communications worth $19,797,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Cogent Communications by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,114,596 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $394,182,000 after buying an additional 43,523 shares in the last quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 17.1% during the 4th quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 698,518 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $53,835,000 after acquiring an additional 101,956 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cogent Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,845,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Cogent Communications by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 509,344 shares of the technology company's stock worth $39,255,000 after purchasing an additional 11,858 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tyro Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Cogent Communications by 0.6% during the third quarter. Tyro Capital Management LLC now owns 350,304 shares of the technology company's stock worth $26,595,000 after purchasing an additional 2,063 shares during the period. 92.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cogent Communications to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cogent Communications currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $80.25.

Cogent Communications Stock Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ:CCOI opened at $53.53 on Friday. Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $47.54 and a 52 week high of $86.76. The company has a quick ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.87. The stock's fifty day moving average is $63.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.63 and a beta of 0.69.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The technology company reported ($0.91) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.22) by $0.31. The company had revenue of $252.29 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $258.49 million. Cogent Communications had a negative return on equity of 36.31% and a net margin of 3.73%. Research analysts anticipate that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.55 EPS for the current year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $1.005 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Cogent Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.51%. Cogent Communications's dividend payout ratio is -93.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cogent Communications

In related news, Director Lewis H. Ferguson sold 956 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the director now owns 18,652 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,293,702.72. This trade represents a 4.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Thaddeus Gerard Weed sold 4,900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $353,094.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 103,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,422,180. This trade represents a 4.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,681 shares of company stock valued at $840,878 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

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.

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