Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) Shares Sold by Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) by 34.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,129 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 8,526 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Cogent Communications were worth $1,054,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 218,174 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $16,594,000 after buying an additional 24,185 shares during the last quarter. PEAK6 Investments LLC increased its stake in Cogent Communications by 175.1% during the fourth quarter. PEAK6 Investments LLC now owns 37,599 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,860,000 after acquiring an additional 23,934 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in Cogent Communications by 46.6% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 828,664 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $63,028,000 after purchasing an additional 263,276 shares during the period. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 482,532 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $36,701,000 after purchasing an additional 67,201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 88,263 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,713,000 after purchasing an additional 1,582 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.45% of the company’s stock.

Cogent Communications Stock Down 2.1 %

Cogent Communications stock opened at $55.24 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $58.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.83. The stock has a market cap of $2.71 billion, a PE ratio of 2.19 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.80, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last issued its 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 business had revenue of $266.17 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $274.13 million. Cogent Communications had a negative return on equity of 24.63% and a net margin of 114.09%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd were given a dividend of $0.975 per share. This represents a $3.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 22nd. This is an increase from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.97. Cogent Communications’s payout ratio is currently 15.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on CCOI shares. KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of Cogent Communications from $88.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Bank of America cut shares of 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Cogent Communications from $73.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 13th. StockNews.com cut shares of Cogent Communications from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Cogent Communications in a research report on Monday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cogent Communications currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.57.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Dave Schaeffer sold 60,000 shares of Cogent Communications stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.78, for a total transaction of $3,106,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,433,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $229,542,707.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Cogent Communications news, CEO Dave Schaeffer sold 60,000 shares of Cogent Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.78, for a total transaction of $3,106,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,433,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $229,542,707.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.00, for a total value of $134,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 38,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,161,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 178,440 shares of company stock worth $9,828,016. 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.