Madison Investment Advisors LLC Buys New Position in Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI)

Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 82,163 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $6,332,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC owned 0.17% of Cogent Communications as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CCOI. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Cogent Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,845,000. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Cogent Communications by 8,542.8% in the fourth quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 237,678 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $18,318,000 after acquiring an additional 234,928 shares during the last quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. raised its position in Cogent Communications by 17.1% during the fourth quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 698,518 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $53,835,000 after purchasing an additional 101,956 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its stake in Cogent Communications by 136.5% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 145,223 shares of the technology company's stock worth $11,025,000 after purchasing an additional 83,816 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 800,758 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $60,793,000 after purchasing an additional 79,474 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.45% of the company's stock.

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Cogent Communications Stock Down 1.3 %

CCOI traded down $0.82 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $63.07. The company had a trading volume of 572,536 shares, compared to its average volume of 423,054. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $74.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $76.80. Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $50.80 and a 52 week high of $86.76. The company has a market capitalization of $3.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.86 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 (NASDAQ:CCOI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The technology company reported ($0.91) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.22) by $0.31. Cogent Communications had a negative return on equity of 36.31% and a net margin of 3.73%. The company had revenue of $252.29 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $258.49 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a $1.005 dividend. This represents a $4.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.37%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Cogent Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Cogent Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -93.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Sheryl Lynn Kennedy sold 1,425 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.96, for a total transaction of $103,968.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,147 shares of the company's stock, valued at $740,325.12. This represents a 12.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Thaddeus Gerard Weed sold 4,900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total value of $353,094.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 103,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,422,180. The trade was a 4.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,681 shares of company stock worth $840,878 over the last quarter. Insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

About Cogent Communications

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.