Balyasny Asset Management L.P. Acquires Shares of 6,213 Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI)

Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 6,213 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $479,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Cogent Communications by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,114,596 shares of the technology company's stock worth $394,182,000 after purchasing an additional 43,523 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake 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 buying an additional 11,858 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 52,770 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,067,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Cogent Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $4,994,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Cogent Communications by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 206,196 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $15,892,000 after acquiring an additional 6,235 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.45% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CCOI. StockNews.com raised Cogent Communications to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Cogent Communications from $102.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Cogent Communications from $71.00 to $62.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Cogent Communications has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $75.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 transaction of $66,308.16. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,652 shares in the company, valued at $1,293,702.72. This represents a 4.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 2,400 shares of Cogent Communications stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.57, for a total transaction of $174,168.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 41,000 shares in the company, valued at $2,975,370. This represents a 5.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,681 shares of company stock worth $840,878. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Cogent Communications Price Performance

Cogent Communications stock traded down $0.70 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $49.89. 557,297 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 473,398. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.87, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a current ratio of 2.03. Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $45.00 and a 52-week high of $86.76. The company has a market cap of $2.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.96 and a beta of 0.76. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $57.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $70.33.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The technology company reported ($1.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.05) by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $247.05 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $250.81 million. Cogent Communications had a net margin of 3.73% and a negative return on equity of 36.31%. The company's revenue was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($1.38) EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be issued a dividend of $1.01 per share. This represents a $4.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.10%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. This is a boost from Cogent Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. Cogent Communications's payout ratio is -100.75%.

Cogent Communications Company 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.