Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. Invests $1.29 Million in Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI)

Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 21,000 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,288,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Cogent Communications by 2.3% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 210,977 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $12,935,000 after acquiring an additional 4,781 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Cogent Communications by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,114,596 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $394,182,000 after buying an additional 43,523 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in Cogent Communications by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 52,770 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $4,067,000 after buying an additional 327 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Cogent Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,994,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cogent Communications during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $695,000. 92.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 2,400 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the vice president owned 38,600 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,850,870. This represents a 5.85% decrease in their position. The sale 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 company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.04, for a total value of $235,396.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 98,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,707,920. This trade represents a 4.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 445,500 shares of company stock valued at $21,285,069. Insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Cogent Communications from $102.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Cogent Communications from $71.00 to $62.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $75.75.

Cogent Communications Price Performance

Shares of Cogent Communications stock traded down $2.91 on Friday, reaching $50.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,250,056 shares, compared to its average volume of 505,080. The company has a market capitalization of $2.47 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.47 and a beta of 0.73. Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $43.65 and a 52-week high of $86.76. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $48.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $60.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.89.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The technology company reported ($1.09) 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 firm had revenue of $247.05 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $250.81 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($1.38) earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.55 EPS for the current year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd were paid a dividend of $1.01 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $4.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.08%. This is a positive change from Cogent Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. Cogent Communications's payout ratio is -100.75%.

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.