Granahan Investment Management LLC Purchases 11,101 Shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. $CCOI

Key Points

• Granahan Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Cogent Communications by 6.4%, acquiring an additional 11,101 shares during the first quarter, bringing their total holdings to 185,582 shares valued at approximately $11.38 million.
• Cogent Communications reported a negative earnings per share of ($1.21) for the last quarter, which missed analysts' estimates, while revenue declined by 5.4% year-over-year to $246.25 million.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.015, representing an annualized yield of 11.1%, and announced a $100 million stock repurchase program indicating confidence in its stock value.

Granahan Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI - Free Report) by 6.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 185,582 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 11,101 shares during the quarter. Granahan Investment Management LLC owned 0.38% of Cogent Communications worth $11,378,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Cogent Communications by 37.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 185,992 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $14,333,000 after acquiring an additional 50,370 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 45.7% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 752,158 shares of the technology company's stock worth $57,961,000 after purchasing an additional 235,842 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Cogent Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $479,000. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 29.5% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 57,723 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,449,000 after purchasing an additional 13,160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ellevest Inc. bought a new position in Cogent Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $372,000. Institutional investors own 92.45% of the company's stock.

Cogent Communications Price Performance

Shares of CCOI stock opened at $36.66 on Friday. Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $29.61 and a 1-year high of $86.76. The stock's 50-day moving average is $43.50 and its 200 day moving average is $52.55. The company has a market cap of $1.80 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.07 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 49.06, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 2.31.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The technology company reported ($1.21) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.93) by ($0.28). Cogent Communications had a negative net margin of 21.57% and a negative return on equity of 117.56%. The company had revenue of $246.25 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $247.79 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.68) EPS. Cogent Communications's revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. 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, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $1.015 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $4.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.1%. This is an increase from Cogent Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. Cogent Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -89.43%.

Cogent Communications announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, August 7th that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to reacquire up to 4.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CCOI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Cogent Communications from $102.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $40.00 price objective (down previously from $74.00) on shares of Cogent Communications in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Cogent Communications from an "underweight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $45.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Citigroup downgraded Cogent Communications from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $67.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Cogent Communications in a research report on Tuesday. They set a "neutral" rating and a $40.00 price target on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $46.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cogent Communications

In other news, CEO Dave Schaeffer sold 818,909 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.50, for a total value of $22,519,997.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 697,143 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,171,432.50. This trade represents a 54.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sheryl Lynn Kennedy sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.35, for a total value of $72,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 10,017 shares of the company's stock, valued at $364,117.95. The trade was a 16.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,901,478 shares of company stock worth $94,081,853 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

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.

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