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

Emerald Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 241,534 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 285 shares during the quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC owned 0.49% of Cogent Communications worth $18,615,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Cogent Communications in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Cogent Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Cogent Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at $46,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Cogent Communications by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 623 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new position in Cogent Communications in the fourth quarter worth $63,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.45% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Cogent Communications Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of CCOI stock opened at $68.31 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 87.58 and a beta of 0.45. Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $50.80 and a 12-month high of $86.76. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $75.07 and a 200-day moving average of $76.84. 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) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The technology company reported ($0.91) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.22) by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $252.29 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $258.49 million. Cogent Communications had a negative return on equity of 36.31% and a net margin of 3.73%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $1.005 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $4.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.88%. This is an increase from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio is -93.49%.

Insider Transactions at Cogent Communications

In related news, CFO Thaddeus Gerard Weed sold 4,900 shares of Cogent Communications stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total value of $353,094.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 103,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,422,180. The trade was a 4.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction, the director now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,681 shares of company stock valued at $840,878 in the last ninety days. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.