5 Tech Stocks Skylands Capital Can’t Live Without

Coherent, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHR)

– Shares Held by Skylands Capital (as of September 30): 116,050

– Value of Skylands Capital’s Stake (as of September 30): $12.82 million

Shares of Coherent, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHR) jumped by more than 26% over the third quarter. However, instead of taking profits, Skylands decided to boost its holding by 136%. This makes the firm one of the largest hedge fund investors in the stock. Also long the stock on September 30 was Drew Cupps’ Cupps Capital Management, which disclosed ownership of 20,007 shares in its latest 13F filing. Coherent, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHR) has slipped by almost 5.9% since the fourth quarter started, due to the company announcing an asset sale to placate concerned regulators as it attempts to close on its purchase of Rofin-Sinar Technologies. The company is scheduled to report its fourth quarter financial results on November 2, and the Street is expecting EPS of $1.26, up from $1.05 in the same quarter last year, on revenue of $228.92 million, versus the $209.62 million in sales reported a year earlier.

Cogent Communications Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:CCOI)

– Shares Held by Skylands Capital (as of September 30): 386,350

– Value of Skylands Capital’s Stake (as of September 30): $14.22 million

Next up is Cogent Communications Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:CCOI), in which Skylands increased its position by 24% during the third quarter, during which time the stock lost 5.25%. Another fund long the stock was Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies, which declared holding 1.53 million shares as of June 30. Shares of Cogent Communications Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:CCOI) have continued to slide in the fourth quarter, by about 3.6%, on no specific news. On August 8, Oppenheimer analyst Timothy Horan recommended buying Cogent on its recent (at the time) weakness. Horan believes the company’s free cash flow will see 20% gains each year for the next few years. Cogent will announce its third quarter financial results on November 3, with the Street modeling EPS of $0.11 on revenue of $113.3 million.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

– Shares Held by Skylands Capital (as of September 30): 365,165

– Value of Skylands Capital’s Stake (as of September 30): $41.28 million

Finally, there’s Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), which rose by almost 20% over the third quarter. As of September 30, Fisher Asset Management was another big supporter of Apple, holding 11.3 million Apple shares valued at approximately $1.28 billion. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has continued to surge during the fourth quarter, by nearly 5%, as the discontinuation of Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 is expected to have a positive impact on Apple’s own sales. On Wednesday, rumors abounded that Apple plans to launch new Macs at an October 27 event in Cupertino.

Disclosure: Javier Hasse holds no interest in any of the securities or entities mentioned in this article.