Citigroup Inc. Buys 20,510 Shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI)

Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) by 56.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 56,595 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,510 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc. owned 0.12% of Cogent Communications worth $4,297,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CCOI. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Cogent Communications by 204.5% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 405 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 72.9% during the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 536 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 127.5% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 787 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 441 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Cogent Communications during the third quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 207.0% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 660 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 445 shares in the last quarter. 92.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CCOI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $74.00 price target on shares of Cogent Communications in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Bank of America downgraded 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 report on Wednesday, August 21st. UBS Group began coverage on Cogent Communications in a report on Thursday, November 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $102.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Cogent Communications from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on Cogent Communications from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $80.25.

Cogent Communications Stock Performance

Shares of CCOI opened at $80.61 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.87. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.80. The stock has a market cap of $3.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 103.35 and a beta of 0.39. Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $50.80 and a 52 week high of $86.76.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The technology company reported ($1.33) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.34) by $0.01. The business had revenue of $257.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $258.69 million. Cogent Communications had a negative return on equity of 36.31% and a net margin of 3.73%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($1.13) earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.53 EPS for the current year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a $0.995 dividend. This is a boost from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.99. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.98 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.94%. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 510.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CRO James Bubeck sold 1,920 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.42, for a total transaction of $156,326.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now owns 51,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,190,036.04. This trade represents a 3.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Blake Bath sold 6,220 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.69, for a total value of $520,551.80. Following the sale, the director now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $836,900. This represents a 38.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 18,816 shares of company stock worth $1,530,087. 11.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.