Swiss National Bank Cuts Stock Holdings in Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. $CCOI

Swiss National Bank trimmed its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) by 1.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 90,300 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,300 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.18% of Cogent Communications worth $5,536,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. DigitalBridge Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 246.0% during the fourth quarter. DigitalBridge Group Inc. now owns 907,916 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $69,973,000 after purchasing an additional 645,521 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 24.1% during the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,897,090 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $146,209,000 after purchasing an additional 368,129 shares in the last quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 21.8% during the fourth quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC now owns 1,436,855 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $110,738,000 after acquiring an additional 257,383 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 45.7% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 752,158 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $57,961,000 after acquiring an additional 235,842 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cogent Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $9,649,000. 92.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cogent Communications Trading Up 7.7%

Shares of Cogent Communications stock opened at $36.90 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 49.06, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 2.31. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $46.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.06. Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $29.61 and a 1 year high of $86.76. The stock has a market cap of $1.81 billion, a PE ratio of -8.13 and a beta of 0.68.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The technology company reported ($1.21) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.93) by ($0.28). Cogent Communications had a negative return on equity of 117.56% and a negative net margin of 21.57%. The business had revenue of $246.25 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $247.79 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.68) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.015 per share. This is an increase from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. This represents a $4.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently -88.99%.

Cogent Communications declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, August 7th that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to purchase up to 4.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CCOI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $40.00 price target (down previously from $74.00) on shares of Cogent Communications in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Cogent Communications from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $67.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Cogent Communications from $102.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Cogent Communications from $71.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Cogent Communications from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $58.57.

Insider Activity at Cogent Communications

In related news, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 2,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.95, for a total transaction of $115,080.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 38,600 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,850,870. The trade was a 5.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Thaddeus Gerard Weed sold 4,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.04, for a total transaction of $235,396.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 98,000 shares in the company, valued at $4,707,920. The trade was a 4.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,105,078 shares of company stock worth $103,810,876 over the last three months. Company insiders own 10.20% of the company’s stock.

Cogent Communications 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.