Senator Investment Group LP Trims Holdings in Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI)

Senator Investment Group LP lowered its stake in Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI - Free Report) by 12.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 583,640 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 80,538 shares during the quarter. Cogent Communications makes up 1.3% of Senator Investment Group LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Senator Investment Group LP owned about 1.19% of Cogent Communications worth $44,981,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Cogent Communications by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,114,596 shares of the technology company's stock worth $394,182,000 after buying an additional 43,523 shares in the last quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 17.1% in the fourth quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 698,518 shares of the technology company's stock worth $53,835,000 after purchasing an additional 101,956 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Cogent Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,845,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Cogent Communications by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 509,344 shares of the technology company's stock worth $39,255,000 after buying an additional 11,858 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tyro Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Tyro Capital Management LLC now owns 350,304 shares of the technology company's stock worth $26,595,000 after buying an additional 2,063 shares during the last quarter. 92.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com raised 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 assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $80.25.

Cogent Communications Trading Up 2.8 %

CCOI traded up $1.44 on Thursday, hitting $53.50. 312,799 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 458,415. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.87, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a current ratio of 2.03. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.64 billion, a PE ratio of 68.59 and a beta of 0.69. Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $47.54 and a 12 month high of $86.76.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.22) by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $252.29 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $258.49 million. Cogent Communications had a net margin of 3.73% and a negative return on equity of 36.31%. Sell-side analysts expect that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a $1.005 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. This is a boost from Cogent Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.51%. Cogent Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -93.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cogent Communications

In other Cogent Communications news, Director Lewis H. Ferguson sold 956 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 18,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Sheryl Lynn Kennedy sold 1,425 shares of Cogent Communications stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.96, for a total transaction of $103,968.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 10,147 shares in the company, valued at $740,325.12. The trade was a 12.31 % 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. 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.