Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) Shares Acquired by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) by 5.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,835 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 263 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Cogent Communications were worth $373,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CCOI. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Cogent Communications by 0.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,014,322 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $77,021,000 after acquiring an additional 3,093 shares during the period. Tyro Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Cogent Communications by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Tyro Capital Management LLC now owns 350,304 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,595,000 after purchasing an additional 2,063 shares in the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Cogent Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $284,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,841 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,221,000 after purchasing an additional 2,235 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Phillips Wealth Planners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 5,645 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $405,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the period. 92.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Cogent Communications news, CFO Thaddeus Gerard Weed sold 4,900 shares of Cogent Communications stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total value of $353,094.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 103,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,422,180. The trade was a 4.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Lewis H. Ferguson sold 956 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,293,702.72. This represents a 4.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,681 shares of company stock valued at $840,878. 10.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Cogent Communications Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CCOI opened at $53.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.87, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a current ratio of 2.03. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $66.80 and a 200 day moving average of $74.38. The firm has a market cap of $2.62 billion, a PE ratio of 68.08 and a beta of 0.69. Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $47.54 and a one year high of $86.76.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last posted its quarterly 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 negative return on equity of 36.31% and a net margin of 3.73%. The business had revenue of $252.29 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $258.49 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $1.005 per share. This represents a $4.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.57%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Cogent Communications’s payout ratio is currently -93.49%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cogent Communications to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $80.25.

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.