Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) Stock Holdings Lowered by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its holdings in Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI – Get Rating) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 262,335 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,677 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Cogent Communications were worth $14,974,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 50.8% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 742 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 36.7% during the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 789 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the period. Belpointe Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cogent Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 31.0% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 807 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the period. Finally, Huntington National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 47.8% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,036 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the period. 85.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CCOI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America upgraded shares of Cogent Communications from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $45.00 to $85.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 3rd. Credit Suisse Group boosted their price objective on shares of Cogent Communications from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Cogent Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $72.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Monday, May 8th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Cogent Communications from $61.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 7th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Cogent Communications in a research report on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.33.

Cogent Communications Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ CCOI opened at $61.80 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.98 billion, a PE ratio of 280.92 and a beta of 0.44. Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $46.75 and a 1 year high of $75.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $65.06 and its 200-day moving average is $62.67.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 4th. The technology company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.01. Cogent Communications had a net margin of 1.68% and a negative return on equity of 2.48%. The business had revenue of $116.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $153.79 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.02 EPS. Cogent Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 18th will be paid a $0.935 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 17th. This represents a $3.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.05%. This is a positive change from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Cogent Communications’s payout ratio is presently 1,700.08%.

Insider Transactions at Cogent Communications

In related news, VP John B. Chang sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $35,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 47,360 shares in the company, valued at $3,315,200. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Dave Schaeffer sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.38, for a total value of $2,288,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 5,023,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $328,454,801.78. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP John B. Chang sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $35,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 47,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,315,200. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 64,068 shares of company stock valued at $4,209,866 over the last 90 days. 11.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Cogent Communications Company Profile

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Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc engages in the provision of Internet access and Internet Protocol (IP) communications solutions. It offers Internet access and data transport through its fiber optic, IP data-only network, ethernet transport, and colocation services. The company was founded by David Schaeffer in August 1999 and is headquartered in Washington, DC.