Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC Purchases 38,227 Shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI)

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) by 38,227.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 38,327 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 38,227 shares during the quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC owned 0.08% of Cogent Communications worth $2,954,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in CCOI. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Cogent Communications in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Cogent Communications during the 3rd quarter worth about $46,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Cogent Communications by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 623 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new stake in Cogent Communications during the 4th quarter worth about $63,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in Cogent Communications by 132.1% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 875 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.45% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Cogent Communications in a report on Thursday, November 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $102.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Cogent Communications to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cogent Communications presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $80.25.

Cogent Communications Stock Performance

Cogent Communications stock opened at $71.59 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.87. Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $50.80 and a 1 year high of $86.76. The company has a market cap of $3.53 billion, a PE ratio of 91.78 and a beta of 0.45. The company’s 50-day moving average is $76.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.00.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The technology company reported ($0.91) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.22) by $0.31. Cogent Communications had a net margin of 3.73% and a negative return on equity of 36.31%. The company had revenue of $252.29 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $258.49 million. Equities analysts anticipate 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, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $1.005 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. 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 yield of 5.62%. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently -93.49%.

Insider Activity at Cogent Communications

In related news, CFO Thaddeus Gerard Weed sold 4,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 103,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,422,180. This trade represents a 4.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 4,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.61, for a total transaction of $362,928.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 33,800 shares in the company, valued at $2,555,618. This represents a 12.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,045 shares of company stock worth $1,110,402 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

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.