Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. $CCOI Shares Acquired by Granahan Investment Management LLC

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 lifted its position 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 Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 185,582 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing 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 and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake 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 buying an additional 50,370 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 45.7% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 752,158 shares of the technology company's stock worth $57,961,000 after acquiring an additional 235,842 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Cogent Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $479,000. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 29.5% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 57,723 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,449,000 after buying an additional 13,160 shares during the period. Finally, Ellevest Inc. acquired a new stake in Cogent Communications in the fourth quarter worth $372,000. 92.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Sheryl Lynn Kennedy sold 2,000 shares of Cogent Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.35, for a total transaction of $72,700.00. Following the sale, the director owned 10,017 shares in the company, valued at $364,117.95. This trade represents a 16.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 2,400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.99, for a total transaction of $88,776.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 36,200 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,339,038. This trade represents a 6.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,788,978 shares of company stock worth $88,591,983 over the last quarter. Insiders own 10.20% of the company's stock.

Cogent Communications Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of CCOI traded down $0.54 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $35.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 584,585 shares, compared to its average volume of 798,762. The stock has a market cap of $1.76 billion, a PE ratio of -7.88 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 49.06. Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $29.61 and a 52 week high of $86.76. The company's fifty day moving average price is $42.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.40.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The technology company reported ($1.21) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.93) by ($0.28). The firm had revenue of $246.25 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $247.79 million. Cogent Communications had a negative net margin of 21.57% and a negative return on equity of 117.56%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.68) earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cogent Communications declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, August 7th that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to purchase up to 4.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st were paid a dividend of $1.015 per share. This represents a $4.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.4%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 21st. This is a positive change from Cogent Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. Cogent Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -89.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CCOI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup lowered shares of Cogent Communications from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $67.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $40.00 price target (down from $74.00) on shares of Cogent Communications in a research report on Friday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Cogent Communications in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $40.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Cogent Communications from an "underweight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $45.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $46.60.

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.