Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. $CCOI Shares Acquired by 14B Captial Management LP

Key Points

• 14B Capital Management LP increased its stake in Cogent Communications by 77.8%, now owning approximately 0.91% of the company, making it its 4th biggest holding.
• CEO Dave Schaeffer sold over 1.8 million shares of Cogent Communications, representing a significant reduction of 54.84% in his stake and totaling over $60 million in value.
• The company announced a $100 million stock repurchase plan and increased its quarterly dividend to $1.015, reflecting confidence in its stock valuation despite recent earnings performance.

14B Captial Management LP grew its position in Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI - Free Report) by 77.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 448,000 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 196,000 shares during the period. Cogent Communications makes up approximately 11.4% of 14B Captial Management LP's holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. 14B Captial Management LP owned approximately 0.91% of Cogent Communications worth $27,467,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. now owns 42,739 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,620,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 35.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,047 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. lifted its position in Cogent Communications by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 3,497 shares of the technology company's stock worth $214,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in Cogent Communications by 56.3% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,035 shares of the technology company's stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prairieview Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Cogent Communications by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Prairieview Wealth Partners LLC now owns 11,142 shares of the technology company's stock worth $683,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. 92.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Cogent Communications

In other news, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 2,400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.99, for a total value of $88,776.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 36,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,339,038. The trade was a 6.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sheryl Lynn Kennedy sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.35, for a total value of $72,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 10,017 shares of the company's stock, valued at $364,117.95. This trade represents a 16.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,903,878 shares of company stock valued at $94,170,629 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

Cogent Communications Stock Up 0.6%

CCOI stock traded up $0.22 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $36.88. 2,153,968 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,877,775. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 49.06. Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $29.61 and a 12-month high of $86.76. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $43.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.12 and a beta of 0.81.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI - Get Free Report) last issued 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 net margin of 21.57% and a negative return on equity of 117.56%. The firm had revenue of $246.25 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $247.79 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.68) earnings per share. Cogent Communications's revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.55 EPS for the current year.

Cogent Communications announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, August 7th that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to purchase up to 4.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st were issued a $1.015 dividend. This is a positive change from Cogent Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $4.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.0%. Cogent Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -89.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on CCOI. Citigroup lowered Cogent Communications from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $67.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Cogent Communications in a research report on Tuesday. They set a "neutral" rating and a $40.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price target on Cogent Communications from $102.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Cogent Communications from an "underweight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $45.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $40.00 price target (down from $74.00) on shares of Cogent Communications in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $46.60.

Cogent Communications 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.