Skylands Capital LLC Sells 44,750 Shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. $CCOI

Key Points

• Skylands Capital cut its stake in Cogent by 42.1%, selling 44,750 shares in Q4 and leaving 61,575 shares worth about $1.33M, while institutional investors own roughly 92.45% of the stock.
• Cogent reported Q4 EPS of ($0.64) (beating the ($1.09) consensus) but revenue fell 4.7% year‑over‑year to $240.5M and the company remains unprofitable with negative margins and ROE; analysts expect -3.66 EPS for the year.
• Insiders have been selling recently (12,756 shares over the last 90 days), and the stock carries a consensus "Hold" rating with an average price target of $26.67.

Skylands Capital LLC cut its position in Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI - Free Report) by 42.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 61,575 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 44,750 shares during the period. Skylands Capital LLC owned about 0.13% of Cogent Communications worth $1,328,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CCOI. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 7,534 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $289,000 after buying an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH lifted its holdings in Cogent Communications by 5.7% during the third quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 6,835 shares of the technology company's stock worth $262,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Cogent Communications by 10.3% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 5,466 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $335,000 after acquiring an additional 510 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 80.5% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the technology company's stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 596 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 34.0% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,705 shares of the technology company's stock worth $104,000 after acquiring an additional 686 shares in the last quarter. 92.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cogent Communications Stock Up 0.9%

NASDAQ CCOI opened at $24.68 on Tuesday. The firm's 50 day moving average is $20.96 and its 200-day moving average is $24.43. The company has a market capitalization of $1.24 billion, a PE ratio of -6.48 and a beta of 0.77. Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $15.96 and a 12-month high of $56.88.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 20th. The technology company reported ($0.64) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.09) by $0.45. Cogent Communications had a negative net margin of 18.67% and a negative return on equity of 842.48%. The firm had revenue of $240.52 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $243.82 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.91) earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -3.66 EPS for the current year.

Cogent Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 6th. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Cogent Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -2.10%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cogent Communications news, CFO Thaddeus Gerard Weed sold 4,850 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.63, for a total transaction of $109,755.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 202,750 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,588,232.50. The trade was a 2.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sheryl Lynn Kennedy sold 3,300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.99, for a total value of $75,867.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 10,100 shares in the company, valued at $232,199. This represents a 24.63% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 12,756 shares of company stock worth $292,467. Company insiders own 4.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on CCOI shares. Williams Trading set a $40.00 price objective on Cogent Communications in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Cogent Communications from $27.00 to $23.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 5th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of Cogent Communications from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Weiss Ratings cut Cogent Communications from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "sell (e+)" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on Cogent Communications from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $26.67.

Cogent Communications Profile

Cogent Communications NASDAQ: CCOI is a multinational Internet service provider specializing in high-speed Internet access and data transport services. The company operates one of the largest Tier 1 IP networks in the world, offering wholesale and enterprise customers reliable, low-latency connectivity. Cogent's core services include dedicated Internet access, Ethernet transport, wavelength services, and MPLS-based IP Virtual Private Networks, all delivered over its privately owned, fiber-optic backbone.

In addition to network connectivity, Cogent provides data center colocation and managed services designed to support businesses with demanding bandwidth and redundancy requirements.

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