By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI – Free Report) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 46,383 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 2,115 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. owned about 0.09% of Cogent Communications worth $3,575,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Cogent Communications during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cogent Communications during the third quarter valued at about $46,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Cogent Communications by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 623 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new stake in Cogent Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $63,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in Cogent Communications by 132.1% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 875 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.45% of the company’s stock.
Cogent Communications Trading Down 3.3 %
Shares of NASDAQ CCOI opened at $67.61 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $75.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $76.92. The company has a market cap of $3.33 billion, a PE ratio of 86.68 and a beta of 0.45. Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $50.80 and a 52-week high of $86.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.87, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a current ratio of 2.03.
Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The technology company reported ($0.91) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.22) by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $252.29 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $258.49 million. Cogent Communications had a net margin of 3.73% and a negative return on equity of 36.31%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Cogent Communications Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a $1.005 dividend. This represents a $4.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This is an increase from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently -93.49%.
Insider Activity
In other news, Director Lewis H. Ferguson sold 956 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were 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 directly owns 18,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,293,702.72. The trade was a 4.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 2,400 shares of the business’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 transaction of $174,168.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 41,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,975,370. The trade was a 5.53 % 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 11.00% of the company’s stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
CCOI has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Cogent Communications in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $102.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Cogent Communications to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cogent Communications has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $80.25.
Get Our Latest Research Report on CCOI
About Cogent Communications
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.
Further Reading
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