Access Financial Services Inc. Sells 1,394 Shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI)

Access Financial Services Inc. decreased its position in Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) by 7.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,176 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,394 shares during the quarter. Access Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Cogent Communications were worth $1,230,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CCOI. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in Cogent Communications by 50.3% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 27,448 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,821,000 after acquiring an additional 9,180 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. increased its position in Cogent Communications by 6.8% during the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 51,289 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,402,000 after acquiring an additional 3,265 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in Cogent Communications by 31.2% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,991 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $264,000 after acquiring an additional 950 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its position in Cogent Communications by 47.9% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 22,270 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,478,000 after acquiring an additional 7,213 shares during the period. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Cogent Communications by 35.5% during the first quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,424 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $824,000 after acquiring an additional 3,258 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.45% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Cogent Communications

In other Cogent Communications news, CEO Dave Schaeffer sold 8,826 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.55, for a total transaction of $640,326.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,815,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $349,383,678.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.47, for a total value of $176,328.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 41,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,012,270. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Dave Schaeffer sold 8,826 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.55, for a total transaction of $640,326.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,815,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $349,383,678.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 69,320 shares of company stock worth $4,669,997. 11.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Cogent Communications from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Cogent Communications from $74.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Cogent Communications from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Cogent Communications from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Cogent Communications from $81.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cogent Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $77.57.

Cogent Communications Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CCOI opened at $65.33 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $72.77 and its 200-day moving average is $69.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38. Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $57.35 and a 52 week high of $86.00. The company has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a PE ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.41.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The technology company reported ($0.16) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.95) by $0.79. The company had revenue of $272.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $275.82 million. Cogent Communications had a negative return on equity of 23.66% and a net margin of 135.34%. Equities research analysts predict that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -3.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a $0.965 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.96. This represents a $3.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.91%. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 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.