Argent Trust Co Invests $347,000 in Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI)

Argent Trust Co bought a new stake in Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 6,151 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $347,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CCOI. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its holdings in Cogent Communications by 500.1% in the 1st quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,051,568 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $68,699,000 after acquiring an additional 876,326 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Cogent Communications by 327.7% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 981,623 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $64,129,000 after purchasing an additional 752,133 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Cogent Communications during the fourth quarter worth $50,430,000. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. bought a new stake in Cogent Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $48,184,000. Finally, M&G Plc acquired a new position in shares of Cogent Communications in the 1st quarter valued at $27,942,000. 92.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cogent Communications Trading Down 0.2 %

CCOI stock opened at $72.29 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $69.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 2.20. Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $50.80 and a fifty-two week high of $86.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.40.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The technology company reported ($0.68) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.27) by $0.59. The company had revenue of $260.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $264.32 million. Cogent Communications had a negative return on equity of 32.14% and a net margin of 4.26%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.13) earnings per share. Analysts expect that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd were given a dividend of $0.985 per share. This represents a $3.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.45%. This is a positive change from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 22nd. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.61%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Lewis H. Ferguson sold 1,550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.62, for a total value of $112,561.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,748 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,288,859.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Lewis H. Ferguson sold 1,550 shares of Cogent Communications stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.62, for a total value of $112,561.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,748 shares in the company, valued at $1,288,859.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dave Schaeffer sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.82, for a total value of $4,369,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,373,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $318,444,627.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 64,870 shares of company stock valued at $4,716,057 over the last three months. 11.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CCOI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $74.00 target price on shares of Cogent Communications in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Cogent Communications from $70.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Cogent Communications from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Cogent Communications from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Bank of America cut Cogent Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $75.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $75.86.

Cogent Communications Company 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.