Parallel Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. $CCOI

Parallel Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) by 63.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 656 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,158 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC’s holdings in Cogent Communications were worth $32,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in Cogent Communications by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 124,020 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,604,000 after acquiring an additional 1,273 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio bought a new position in Cogent Communications in the 1st quarter worth about $104,000. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Cogent Communications by 20.5% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 48,748 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,989,000 after purchasing an additional 8,306 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 23.4% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 161,791 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $9,919,000 after acquiring an additional 30,630 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Cogent Communications by 10.3% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 5,466 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $335,000 after buying an additional 510 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.45% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Cogent Communications news, Director Sheryl Lynn Kennedy sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.35, for a total transaction of $72,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 10,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $364,117.95. This represents a 16.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.99, for a total transaction of $88,776.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 36,200 shares in the company, valued at $1,339,038. The trade was a 6.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,663,978 shares of company stock worth $82,687,283 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CCOI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $40.00 target price (down previously from $74.00) on shares of Cogent Communications in a research report on Friday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Cogent Communications in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $40.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Cogent Communications from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Citigroup cut Cogent Communications from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $67.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.60.

Cogent Communications Stock Down 0.9%

NASDAQ:CCOI opened at $39.52 on Friday. Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $29.61 and a fifty-two week high of $86.76. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $48.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 49.06, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a current ratio of 2.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.94 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.70 and a beta of 0.81.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The technology company reported ($1.21) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.93) by ($0.28). Cogent Communications had a negative return on equity of 117.56% and a negative net margin of 21.57%.The business had revenue of $246.25 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $247.79 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.68) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cogent Communications announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, August 7th that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to reacquire up to 4.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st were paid a $1.015 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 21st. This is an increase from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. This represents a $4.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.3%. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -89.43%.

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.