Victory Capital Management Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI)

Key Points

• Victory Capital Management Inc. reduced its ownership in Cogent Communications by 74.3% in the first quarter, resulting in a holding of 12,620 shares valued at approximately $774,000.
• Cogent Communications recently missed earnings estimates for the quarter, reporting a loss of ($1.09) per share and revenue of $247.05 million, down 7.2% from last year.
• The company announced a recent quarterly dividend of $1.01 per share, which translates to an annualized yield of 8.9%, although its payout ratio stands at -100.75%.

Victory Capital Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI - Free Report) by 74.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,620 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 36,413 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Cogent Communications were worth $774,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 24.1% in the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,897,090 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $146,209,000 after acquiring an additional 368,129 shares in the last quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 21.8% in the fourth quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC now owns 1,436,855 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $110,738,000 after acquiring an additional 257,383 shares in the last quarter. DigitalBridge Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 246.0% in the fourth quarter. DigitalBridge Group Inc. now owns 907,916 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $69,973,000 after acquiring an additional 645,521 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 45.7% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 752,158 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $57,961,000 after acquiring an additional 235,842 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cogent Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,845,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.45% of the company's stock.

Cogent Communications Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ CCOI traded up $0.14 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $45.28. 521,740 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 589,203. The company has a market capitalization of $2.23 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.29 and a beta of 0.68. Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $43.65 and a 52-week high of $86.76. 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 moving average price of $48.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.93.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The technology company reported ($1.09) earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $247.05 million during 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. Cogent Communications's revenue for the quarter was down 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd were issued a $1.01 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 22nd. This is a positive change from Cogent Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. This represents a $4.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.9%. Cogent Communications's payout ratio is presently -100.75%.

Insider Transactions at Cogent Communications

In related news, CEO Dave Schaeffer sold 70,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.11, for a total value of $3,297,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,356,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $158,135,126.31. The trade was a 2.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 2,400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.95, for a total transaction of $115,080.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 38,600 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,850,870. This represents a 5.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 445,500 shares of company stock valued at $21,285,069 in the last quarter. Insiders own 10.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on CCOI. UBS Group reduced their price objective 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 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price 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.