Stifel Financial Corp Sells 24,720 Shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI)

Stifel Financial Corp cut its position in Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI - Free Report) by 45.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 29,707 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 24,720 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp owned about 0.06% of Cogent Communications worth $2,290,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,114,596 shares of the technology company's stock worth $394,182,000 after purchasing an additional 43,523 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Cogent Communications by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 509,344 shares of the technology company's stock worth $39,255,000 after buying an additional 11,858 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in Cogent Communications by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 52,770 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $4,067,000 after buying an additional 327 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Cogent Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,994,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 206,196 shares of the technology company's stock worth $15,892,000 after acquiring an additional 6,235 shares during the period. 92.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Thaddeus Gerard Weed sold 4,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total value of $353,094.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 103,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,422,180. This trade represents a 4.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Sheryl Lynn Kennedy sold 1,425 shares of Cogent Communications stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.96, for a total transaction of $103,968.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,147 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $740,325.12. The trade was a 12.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,681 shares of company stock worth $840,878. Corporate insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Cogent Communications to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Cogent Communications from $71.00 to $62.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Cogent Communications from $102.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $75.75.

Cogent Communications Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CCOI traded down $0.37 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $48.93. The company had a trading volume of 1,248,464 shares, compared to its average volume of 471,922. The company has a market capitalization of $2.42 billion, a PE ratio of 62.73 and a beta of 0.76. Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $45.00 and a one year high of $86.76. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $59.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.87, a current ratio of 2.03 and a quick ratio of 2.03.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The technology company reported ($1.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.05) by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $247.05 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $250.81 million. Cogent Communications had a net margin of 3.73% and a negative return on equity of 36.31%. Cogent Communications's revenue for the quarter was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($1.38) EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.55 EPS for the current year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be paid a dividend of $1.01 per share. This is an increase from Cogent Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. This represents a $4.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. Cogent Communications's dividend payout ratio is -93.49%.

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.