Inspire Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI)

Key Points

• Inspire Advisors LLC increased its stake in Cogent Communications by 37.0%, acquiring an additional 10,258 shares and bringing its total holdings to 37,951 shares, valued at approximately $2.3 million.
• Cogent recently reported a quarterly earnings loss of ($1.09) per share, missing estimates, with revenues of $247.05 million, down 7.2% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.01 per share, maintaining the same amount as the previous dividend, resulting in an annual yield of 8.27%.

Inspire Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI - Free Report) by 37.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,951 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 10,258 shares during the quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC owned about 0.08% of Cogent Communications worth $2,327,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Xponance Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 3,189 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $246,000 after buying an additional 313 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. purchased a new position in Cogent Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $281,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in Cogent Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $709,000. LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in Cogent Communications by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 44,066 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,396,000 after buying an additional 3,198 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Cogent Communications by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,114,596 shares of the technology company's stock worth $394,182,000 after buying an additional 43,523 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.45% of the company's stock.

Cogent Communications Stock Performance

Shares of Cogent Communications stock traded down $1.34 on Monday, reaching $47.49. The company had a trading volume of 560,025 shares, compared to its average volume of 506,167. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $48.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.66. Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $43.65 and a 52-week high of $86.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.89, a current ratio of 1.49 and a quick ratio of 1.49.

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

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors 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 8.51%. This is a boost from Cogent Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. Cogent Communications's dividend payout ratio is currently -100.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on CCOI shares. 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 report on Friday, May 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Cogent Communications from $71.00 to $62.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Two equities 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $75.75.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Lewis H. Ferguson sold 1,100 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.57, for a total value of $52,327.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 18,904 shares in the company, valued at $899,263.28. This trade represents a 5.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 2,400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.95, for a total transaction of $115,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 38,600 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,850,870. This trade represents a 5.85% 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 over the last 90 days. 10.20% 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.