Dave Schaeffer Sells 818,909 Shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) Stock

Key Points

• Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. CEO Dave Schaeffer sold 818,909 shares at an average price of $27.50, amounting to approximately $22.5 million, reducing his stake by over 54%.
• The company reported a loss of $1.21 EPS for the quarter, which was below the consensus estimate of ($0.93), and its revenue declined by 5.4% year-over-year.
• Cogent announced a quarterly dividend increase to $1.015 per share and has authorized a stock repurchase program worth $100 million, indicating confidence in its stock value.

Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI - Get Free Report) CEO Dave Schaeffer sold 818,909 shares of the company'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 owned 697,143 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,171,432.50. This trade represents a 54.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Dave Schaeffer also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, August 7th, Dave Schaeffer sold 1,840,669 shares of Cogent Communications stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.60, for a total transaction of $60,005,809.40.
• On Monday, June 16th, Dave Schaeffer sold 70,000 shares of Cogent Communications stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.11, for a total transaction of $3,297,700.00.
• On Friday, June 13th, Dave Schaeffer sold 55,000 shares of Cogent Communications stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.40, for a total transaction of $2,607,000.00.
• On Wednesday, June 11th, Dave Schaeffer sold 55,000 shares of Cogent Communications stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.51, for a total transaction of $2,668,050.00.
• On Monday, June 9th, Dave Schaeffer sold 55,000 shares of Cogent Communications stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.64, for a total transaction of $2,675,200.00.
• On Friday, June 6th, Dave Schaeffer sold 80,000 shares of Cogent Communications stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.78, for a total transaction of $3,822,400.00.
• On Wednesday, June 4th, Dave Schaeffer sold 75,000 shares of Cogent Communications stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.76, for a total transaction of $3,582,000.00.
• On Tuesday, May 27th, Dave Schaeffer sold 20,000 shares of Cogent Communications stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.67, for a total transaction of $973,400.00.
• On Thursday, May 22nd, Dave Schaeffer sold 25,000 shares of Cogent Communications stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.27, for a total transaction of $1,156,750.00.

Cogent Communications Stock Performance

Cogent Communications stock traded up $0.42 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $34.56. The company's stock had a trading volume of 160,180 shares, compared to its average volume of 712,151. The firm has a market cap of $1.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.61 and a beta of 0.68. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $46.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $56.86. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 49.06. Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $29.61 and a twelve month high of $86.76.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The technology company reported ($1.21) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.93) by ($0.28). The business had revenue of $246.25 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $247.79 million. Cogent Communications had a negative return on equity of 117.56% and a negative net margin of 21.57%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.68) EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cogent Communications announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, August 7th that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to repurchase up to 4.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.015 per share. This is an increase from Cogent Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. This represents a $4.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Cogent Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -88.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on CCOI shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Cogent Communications from $71.00 to $62.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Citigroup lowered shares of Cogent Communications from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $67.00 to $33.00 in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $40.00 price target (down previously from $74.00) on shares of Cogent Communications in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Cogent Communications from $102.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cogent Communications currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $60.83.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cogent Communications

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. increased its stake in Cogent Communications by 13.3% in the 2nd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,279,440 shares of the technology company's stock worth $109,892,000 after purchasing an additional 267,143 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Cogent Communications by 22.7% in the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 17,578 shares of the technology company's stock worth $847,000 after purchasing an additional 3,257 shares in the last quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC increased its stake in Cogent Communications by 27.9% in the 2nd quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC now owns 139,950 shares of the technology company's stock worth $6,747,000 after purchasing an additional 30,486 shares in the last quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Cogent Communications in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,235,000. Finally, BlackBarn Capital Partners LP increased its stake in Cogent Communications by 26.3% in the 2nd quarter. BlackBarn Capital Partners LP now owns 240,000 shares of the technology company's stock worth $11,570,000 after purchasing an additional 50,000 shares in the last quarter. 92.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.