Raymond James Financial Inc. Sells 7,245 Shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. $CCOI

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. decreased its position in Cogent Communications by 1.4%, selling 7,245 shares and retaining 509,748 shares worth approximately $31.25 million.
• Cogent Communications reported a quarterly loss of ($1.21) earnings per share, missing consensus estimates, with a revenue of $246.25 million, which was below expectations.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend increase to $1.015 per share, yielding 10.6%, alongside a stock repurchase program authorizing up to $100 million in share buybacks.

Raymond James Financial Inc. reduced its stake in Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI - Free Report) by 1.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 509,748 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 7,245 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 1.03% of Cogent Communications worth $31,253,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CCOI. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 58.9% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position 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 worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 56.3% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,035 shares of the technology company's stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 43,175.0% in the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,731 shares of the technology company's stock worth $106,000 after purchasing an additional 1,727 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Syon Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cogent Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $214,000. 92.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cogent Communications Price Performance

Shares of CCOI opened at $38.38 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.89 billion, a PE ratio of -8.45 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 49.06. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $45.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.11. Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $29.61 and a 1-year high of $86.76.

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

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.015 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $4.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.6%. This is a boost from Cogent Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. Cogent Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -89.43%.

Cogent Communications announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, August 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to repurchase up to 4.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CCOI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. 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. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Cogent Communications from $71.00 to $62.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $40.00 price objective (down from $74.00) on shares of Cogent Communications in a report on Friday, August 8th. UBS Group decreased their price objective 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. Finally, Citigroup lowered shares of Cogent Communications from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $67.00 to $33.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $57.50.

Insider Activity at Cogent Communications

In other Cogent Communications news, CEO Dave Schaeffer sold 818,909 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.50, for a total transaction of $22,519,997.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 697,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,171,432.50. The trade was a 54.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Thaddeus Gerard Weed sold 4,900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.04, for a total transaction of $235,396.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 98,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,707,920. This represents a 4.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,082,078 shares of company stock valued at $102,726,826 in the last quarter. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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