State of Alaska Department of Revenue Raises Stake in Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. $CCOI

State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its stake in Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 25,273 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,878 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue owned approximately 0.05% of Cogent Communications worth $1,217,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 2.3% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 210,977 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $12,935,000 after purchasing an additional 4,781 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in Cogent Communications during the first quarter valued at $557,000. LPL Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 6.5% during the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 46,947 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,878,000 after acquiring an additional 2,881 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 36.6% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 7,078 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $434,000 after acquiring an additional 1,896 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 223.7% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 11,823 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $725,000 after acquiring an additional 8,171 shares during the last quarter. 92.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cogent Communications

In other news, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.99, for a total value of $88,776.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 36,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,339,038. This represents a 6.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dave Schaeffer sold 1,840,669 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.60, for a total value of $60,005,809.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,516,052 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,423,295.20. This represents a 54.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,663,978 shares of company stock worth $82,687,283 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Cogent Communications Trading Up 3.2%

Shares of CCOI stock opened at $41.67 on Friday. Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $29.61 and a 12 month high of $86.76. The company has a quick ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 49.06. The business’s 50 day moving average is $38.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.21. The company has a market cap of $2.05 billion, a PE ratio of -9.18 and a beta of 0.77.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The technology company reported ($1.21) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.93) by ($0.28). Cogent Communications had a negative net margin of 21.57% and a negative return on equity of 117.56%. The company had revenue of $246.25 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $247.79 million. During the same quarter 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 analysts predict that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.55 EPS for the current year.

Cogent Communications announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, August 7th that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to repurchase up to 4.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st were issued a dividend of $1.015 per share. This represents a $4.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.7%. This is a boost from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 21st. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio is -89.43%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on CCOI shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $40.00 price target (down from $74.00) on shares of Cogent Communications in a report on Friday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Cogent Communications from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, August 18th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Cogent Communications in a report on Saturday, September 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Cogent Communications in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $40.00 price target for the company. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of Cogent Communications from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $67.00 to $33.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.60.

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.