Brown Advisory Inc. Decreases Position in Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI)

Brown Advisory Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI - Free Report) by 11.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,671,470 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 225,620 shares during the quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. owned 3.38% of Cogent Communications worth $102,478,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CCOI. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Cogent Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its holdings in Cogent Communications by 58.9% during the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 618 shares of the technology company's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 35.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,047 shares of the technology company's stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Cogent Communications by 132.1% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 875 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Cogent Communications during the fourth quarter valued at about $186,000. 92.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cogent Communications Stock Performance

CCOI stock traded down $1.12 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $49.40. The stock had a trading volume of 445,611 shares, compared to its average volume of 502,276. Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $43.65 and a 52 week high of $86.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.32 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.89. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.69.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The technology company reported ($1.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.05) by ($0.04). Cogent Communications had a negative return on equity of 70.29% and a negative net margin of 18.76%. The company had revenue of $247.05 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $250.81 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($1.38) earnings per share. Cogent Communications's quarterly revenue was down 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd were issued a dividend of $1.01 per share. This is an increase from Cogent Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $4.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.18%. Cogent Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -100.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.95, for a total value of $115,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 38,600 shares in the company, valued at $1,850,870. This represents a 5.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Thaddeus Gerard Weed sold 4,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.04, for a total transaction of $235,396.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 98,000 shares in the company, valued at $4,707,920. This trade represents a 4.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 445,500 shares of company stock worth $21,285,069 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on CCOI shares. UBS Group reduced their price target on Cogent Communications from $102.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Cogent Communications from $71.00 to $62.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cogent Communications presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $75.75.

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.