First Trust Advisors LP Purchases 37,708 Shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI)

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

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Cogent Communications by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,114,596 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $394,182,000 after acquiring an additional 43,523 shares during the period. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 101,956 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Cogent Communications during the fourth quarter worth $39,845,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 509,344 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $39,255,000 after buying an additional 11,858 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tyro Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 0.6% during the third quarter. Tyro Capital Management LLC now owns 350,304 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $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 and hedge funds.

Cogent Communications Stock Up 1.8 %

CCOI stock traded up $0.96 during trading on Friday, reaching $55.67. The stock had a trading volume of 104,897 shares, compared to its average volume of 459,215. Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $47.54 and a one year high of $86.76. The company's 50 day moving average is $61.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.82. 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 company has a market capitalization of $2.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.34 and a beta of 0.69.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI - Get Free Report) last released its 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $258.49 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.55 EPS for the current year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a $1.005 dividend. This is an increase from Cogent Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. Cogent Communications's payout ratio is -93.49%.

Insider Activity at Cogent Communications

In related news, Director Lewis H. Ferguson sold 956 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.36, for a total value of $66,308.16. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,293,702.72. This represents a 4.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Thaddeus Gerard Weed sold 4,900 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 103,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,422,180. This trade represents a 4.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,681 shares of company stock worth $840,878. 11.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.