Seven Eight Capital LP Acquires New Holdings in Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI)

Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 21,390 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,397,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Cogent Communications by 17.2% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,880 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $123,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its holdings in Cogent Communications by 7.0% in the first quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 94,471 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,172,000 after acquiring an additional 6,208 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp acquired a new stake in Cogent Communications in the first quarter worth about $494,000. M&G Plc acquired a new stake in Cogent Communications in the first quarter worth about $27,942,000. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its holdings in Cogent Communications by 55.6% in the first 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 acquiring an additional 8,223 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.45% of the company’s stock.

Cogent Communications Stock Performance

CCOI stock traded down $0.92 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $64.68. 394,189 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 466,925. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $57.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.80, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The company has a market cap of $3.17 billion, a PE ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.41. Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $50.80 and a 1 year high of $86.00.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The technology company reported ($1.29) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.10) by ($0.19). The company had revenue of $266.17 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $274.13 million. Cogent Communications had a net margin of 114.09% and a negative return on equity of 24.63%. On average, equities analysts expect that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.81 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, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd were issued a $0.975 dividend. This is a positive change from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.97. This represents a $3.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 22nd. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on CCOI. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Cogent Communications in a report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com downgraded Cogent Communications from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Cogent Communications from $84.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Cogent Communications from $73.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Cogent Communications from $88.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Cogent Communications presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.57.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cogent Communications

In other Cogent Communications news, Director Sheryl Lynn Kennedy sold 1,640 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.79, for a total value of $94,775.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 10,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $583,158.89. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Cogent Communications news, Director Sheryl Lynn Kennedy sold 1,640 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.79, for a total value of $94,775.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 10,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $583,158.89. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dave Schaeffer sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.78, for a total value of $3,106,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,433,038 shares in the company, valued at $229,542,707.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 178,440 shares of company stock valued at $9,828,016. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

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.