BNP Paribas Financial Markets Sells 17,733 Shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lowered its position in shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) by 46.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,123 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 17,733 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Cogent Communications were worth $1,551,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CCOI. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Cogent Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $46,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Cogent Communications by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 623 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its position in Cogent Communications by 58.9% during the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 618 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new stake in Cogent Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $63,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in Cogent Communications by 132.1% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 875 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.45% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Cogent Communications news, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 2,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.57, for a total value of $174,168.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 41,000 shares in the company, valued at $2,975,370. This represents a 5.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lewis H. Ferguson sold 956 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.36, for a total transaction of $66,308.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,293,702.72. The trade was a 4.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,681 shares of company stock valued at $840,878 over the last three months. Insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CCOI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Cogent Communications from $102.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Cogent Communications to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Cogent Communications from $71.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cogent Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.75.

Cogent Communications Price Performance

CCOI stock opened at $50.59 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $57.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $70.33. Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $45.00 and a 12-month high of $86.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.86 and a beta of 0.76. 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 (NASDAQ:CCOI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The technology company reported ($1.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.05) by ($0.04). Cogent Communications had a net margin of 3.73% and a negative return on equity of 36.31%. The company had revenue of $247.05 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $250.81 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($1.38) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be issued a dividend of $1.01 per share. This represents a $4.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.99%. This is a boost from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. Cogent Communications’s payout ratio is presently -100.75%.

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, 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.