Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) Shares Sold by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lessened its stake in shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,400 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 800 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Cogent Communications were worth $1,549,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CCOI. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC raised its position in Cogent Communications by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC now owns 19,407 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,095,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Cogent Communications by 72.9% in the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 536 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its holdings in Cogent Communications by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 4,984 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $378,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Cogent Communications by 204.5% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 405 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 17.2% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,880 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $123,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.45% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CCOI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Cogent Communications from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Cogent Communications from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Cogent Communications from $62.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Cogent Communications from $70.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of Cogent Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $75.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $77.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cogent Communications news, CEO Dave Schaeffer sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.82, for a total transaction of $4,369,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 4,373,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $318,444,627.16. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Lewis H. Ferguson sold 1,550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.62, for a total value of $112,561.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,748 shares in the company, valued at $1,288,859.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Dave Schaeffer sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.82, for a total value of $4,369,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,373,038 shares in the company, valued at $318,444,627.16. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 64,870 shares of company stock worth $4,716,057. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Cogent Communications Stock Performance

CCOI stock opened at $80.27 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 88.21 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.71. Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $50.80 and a fifty-two week high of $86.00. 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) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.27) by $0.59. Cogent Communications had a net margin of 4.26% and a negative return on equity of 32.14%. The company had revenue of $260.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $264.32 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.13) EPS. Cogent Communications’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.985 per share. This represents a $3.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 22nd. This is an increase from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Cogent Communications’s payout ratio is presently 432.97%.

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.