River Road Asset Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI)

River Road Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) by 3.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 284,662 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 11,699 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC owned 0.58% of Cogent Communications worth $21,612,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. M&G Plc acquired a new position in shares of Cogent Communications in the 1st quarter valued at $27,942,000. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 327.7% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 981,623 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $64,129,000 after acquiring an additional 752,133 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 289.6% in the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 10,020 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $566,000 after acquiring an additional 7,448 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 16.6% in the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 738,664 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $48,257,000 after acquiring an additional 105,164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 55.6% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 23,015 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,467,000 after purchasing an additional 8,223 shares during the period. 92.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on CCOI shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $74.00 price target on shares of Cogent Communications in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Cogent Communications from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Cogent Communications from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Cogent Communications from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Cogent Communications from $62.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $77.14.

Cogent Communications Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CCOI opened at $81.43 on Tuesday. 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 Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $50.80 and a fifty-two week high of $86.00. The stock has a market cap of $3.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 89.48 and a beta of 0.40. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $76.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.00.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The technology company reported ($0.68) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.27) by $0.59. The business had revenue of $260.40 million during 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 company earned ($0.13) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd were issued a $0.985 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $3.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.84%. This is an increase from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 432.97%.

Insider Transactions at Cogent Communications

In related news, Director Lewis H. Ferguson sold 1,550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.62, for a total value of $112,561.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,288,859.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Cogent Communications news, VP John B. Chang sold 1,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.67, for a total value of $100,338.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 71,580 shares in the company, valued at $5,130,138.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Lewis H. Ferguson sold 1,550 shares of the firm’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 directly owns 17,748 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,288,859.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 64,870 shares of company stock valued at $4,716,057. Corporate insiders own 11.00% of the company’s stock.

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.