Jennison Associates LLC Acquires 263,276 Shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI)

Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) by 46.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 828,664 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 263,276 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC owned approximately 1.71% of Cogent Communications worth $63,028,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Cogent Communications by 895.0% during the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 398 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 358 shares during the period. Strs Ohio increased its stake in Cogent Communications by 20.0% during the third quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 1,800 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $111,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in Cogent Communications by 56.7% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,026 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $154,000 after acquiring an additional 733 shares during the last quarter. CI Investments Inc. bought a new stake in Cogent Communications during the third quarter worth approximately $142,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new stake in Cogent Communications during the fourth quarter worth approximately $202,000. 92.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cogent Communications Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ CCOI opened at $64.51 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $68.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.50. Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $57.35 and a 52-week high of $86.00.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The technology company reported ($0.16) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.95) by $0.79. The company had revenue of $272.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $275.82 million. Cogent Communications had a net margin of 135.34% and a negative return on equity of 23.66%. Sell-side analysts expect that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -3.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.965 dividend. This represents a $3.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.98%. This is a positive change from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.96. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cogent Communications

In other Cogent Communications news, CRO James Bubeck sold 1,920 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.62, for a total value of $147,110.40. Following the sale, the executive now directly owns 54,822 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,200,461.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Dave Schaeffer sold 26,174 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.21, for a total transaction of $1,680,632.54. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,653,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $298,782,164.63. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CRO James Bubeck sold 1,920 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.62, for a total transaction of $147,110.40. Following the sale, the executive now directly owns 54,822 shares in the company, valued at $4,200,461.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 69,320 shares of company stock valued at $4,669,997. 11.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Cogent Communications from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Cogent Communications from $74.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. TheStreet upgraded Cogent Communications from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Cogent Communications from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Bank of America lowered Cogent Communications from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $85.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $77.57.

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.