Argent Trust Co Buys Shares of 6,151 Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI)

Argent Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 6,151 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $347,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. WINTON GROUP Ltd grew its holdings in Cogent Communications by 20.1% during the second quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 17,099 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $965,000 after purchasing an additional 2,856 shares during the period. Inspire Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 45.6% during the second quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 26,354 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,487,000 after purchasing an additional 8,257 shares in the last quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cogent Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at $330,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 26.4% in the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 49,324 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,784,000 after buying an additional 10,315 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ground Swell Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Cogent Communications during the 2nd quarter worth $241,000. 92.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP John B. Chang sold 1,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.67, for a total value of $100,338.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 71,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,130,138.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, VP John B. Chang sold 1,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.67, for a total value of $100,338.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 71,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,130,138.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Lewis H. Ferguson sold 1,550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.62, for a total transaction of $112,561.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 17,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,288,859.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 64,870 shares of company stock valued at $4,716,057 in the last 90 days. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Cogent Communications Stock Performance

Shares of CCOI stock opened at $72.29 on Friday. Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $50.80 and a 12 month high of $86.00. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $69.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.93. The firm has a market cap of $3.54 billion, a PE ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The technology company reported ($0.68) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.27) by $0.59. The firm had revenue of $260.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $264.32 million. Cogent Communications had a net margin of 4.26% and a negative return on equity of 32.14%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.13) EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd were paid a $0.985 dividend. This represents a $3.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.45%. This is an increase from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 22nd. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CCOI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Cogent Communications from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Cogent Communications from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Cogent Communications from $70.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Cogent Communications from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Cogent Communications from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.86.

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.