Principal Financial Group Inc. Lowers Holdings in Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI - Free Report) by 4.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 199,961 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 10,040 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.41% of Cogent Communications worth $15,181,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Cogent Communications during the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 204.5% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 405 shares of the technology company's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Cogent Communications by 72.9% in the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 536 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Cogent Communications by 207.0% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 660 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 445 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in Cogent Communications by 127.5% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 787 shares of the technology company's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 441 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.45% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cogent Communications

In other Cogent Communications news, CEO Dave Schaeffer sold 60,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.82, for a total value of $4,369,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,373,038 shares in the company, valued at $318,444,627.16. This represents a 1.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Sheryl Lynn Kennedy sold 1,350 shares of Cogent Communications stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.58, for a total value of $108,783.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $831,424.44. This represents a 11.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 68,500 shares of company stock worth $5,008,175. Insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

Cogent Communications Price Performance

CCOI traded up $1.59 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $79.40. 437,649 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 439,990. Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $50.80 and a 52-week high of $86.76. The company has a current ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.87. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.12. The company has a market capitalization of $3.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 101.79 and a beta of 0.40.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The technology company reported ($1.33) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.34) by $0.01. Cogent Communications had a negative return on equity of 36.31% and a net margin of 3.73%. The business had revenue of $257.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $258.69 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($1.13) earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.995 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This is a positive change from Cogent Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.99. This represents a $3.98 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.01%. Cogent Communications's payout ratio is presently 510.26%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Cogent Communications from $62.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Citigroup increased their price target on Cogent Communications from $70.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $74.00 price objective on shares of Cogent Communications in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Cogent Communications from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Cogent Communications from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cogent Communications presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $80.25.

Cogent Communications 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.