Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Cuts Stock Holdings in Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System cut its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 15,728 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 297 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Cogent Communications were worth $1,196,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CCOI. Harspring Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Cogent Communications by 71.1% during the third quarter. Harspring Capital Management LLC now owns 984,000 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $60,910,000 after buying an additional 409,000 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 58.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 710,612 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $43,987,000 after acquiring an additional 263,313 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 46.6% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 828,664 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $63,028,000 after purchasing an additional 263,276 shares during the last quarter. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Cogent Communications during the third quarter valued at about $14,447,000. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Cogent Communications during the fourth quarter valued at about $10,424,000. 92.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on CCOI. StockNews.com lowered shares of Cogent Communications from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Cogent Communications from $74.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Bank of America downgraded Cogent Communications from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Cogent Communications from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on Cogent Communications from $81.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $77.57.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cogent Communications

In other news, CRO James Bubeck sold 1,920 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.62, for a total value of $147,110.40. Following the sale, the executive now owns 54,822 shares in the company, valued at $4,200,461.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Cogent Communications news, CEO Dave Schaeffer sold 26,174 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.21, for a total value of $1,680,632.54. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 4,653,203 shares in the company, valued at approximately $298,782,164.63. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CRO James Bubeck sold 1,920 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.62, for a total transaction of $147,110.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now owns 54,822 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,200,461.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 69,320 shares of company stock worth $4,669,997. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Cogent Communications Price Performance

Shares of CCOI opened at $63.40 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.01 billion, a PE ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $65.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.48. Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $57.35 and a 1-year high of $86.00.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The technology company reported ($0.16) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.95) by $0.79. Cogent Communications had a negative return on equity of 23.66% and a net margin of 135.34%. The business had revenue of $272.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $275.82 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -3.35 EPS for the current year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.965 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.96. This represents a $3.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.09%. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.43%.

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.