Citigroup Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI)

Citigroup Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) by 16.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,534 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 8,198 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. owned 0.09% of Cogent Communications worth $2,647,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CCOI. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Cogent Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,772,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Cogent Communications by 325.5% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 341,657 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $19,502,000 after purchasing an additional 261,355 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Cogent Communications by 14.0% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,706,265 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $113,211,000 after purchasing an additional 210,120 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in Cogent Communications by 67.6% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 456,356 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,049,000 after purchasing an additional 184,065 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Broad Run Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Cogent Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,660,000. 85.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on CCOI shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Cogent Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $43.00 to $64.00 in a report on Monday, August 21st. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Cogent Communications from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 11th. TD Cowen raised Cogent Communications from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, August 11th. TheStreet raised Cogent Communications from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Friday, August 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Cogent Communications from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.60.

Cogent Communications Stock Performance

NASDAQ CCOI opened at $69.89 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $3.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.33, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 1.72. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $65.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.78. Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $46.75 and a fifty-two week high of $75.00.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 10th. The technology company reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.06 by ($0.19). The company had revenue of $239.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $259.80 million. Cogent Communications had a net margin of 161.48% and a negative return on equity of 2.48%. Sell-side analysts predict that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -2.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 24th will be given a dividend of $0.945 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 23rd. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.41%. This is an increase from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Cogent Communications’s payout ratio is currently 16.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cogent Communications

In other Cogent Communications news, CEO Dave Schaeffer sold 7,061 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.44, for a total value of $440,888.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,948,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $309,001,885.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Cogent Communications news, Director Steven D. Brooks sold 4,202 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $273,130.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 33,277 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,163,005. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dave Schaeffer sold 7,061 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.44, for a total value of $440,888.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,948,781 shares in the company, valued at approximately $309,001,885.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,233 shares of company stock valued at $1,596,731 in the last quarter. 11.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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, Asia, South America, Australia, 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.