Norges Bank Takes Position in Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI)

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 64,795 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $4,994,000. Norges Bank owned about 0.13% of Cogent Communications as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new position in shares of Cogent Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $7,084,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Cogent Communications by 0.9% during the fourth 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 during the period. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 44,066 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,396,000 after acquiring an additional 3,198 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in Cogent Communications during the 4th quarter worth $709,000. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cogent Communications during the fourth quarter worth approximately $46,000. 92.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cogent Communications to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $80.25.

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Cogent Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CCOI traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $53.13. The stock had a trading volume of 34,962 shares, compared to its average volume of 454,350. Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $47.54 and a 1 year 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $69.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.00. The company has a market capitalization of $2.62 billion, a PE ratio of 68.12 and a beta of 0.69.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The technology company reported ($0.91) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.22) by $0.31. Cogent Communications had a negative return on equity of 36.31% and a net margin of 3.73%. The company had revenue of $252.29 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $258.49 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $1.005 per share. This represents a $4.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Cogent Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Cogent Communications's dividend payout ratio is currently -93.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 2,400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.57, for a total transaction of $174,168.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 41,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,975,370. This represents a 5.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Thaddeus Gerard Weed sold 4,900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $353,094.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 103,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,422,180. This trade represents a 4.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 11,681 shares of company stock worth $840,878. 11.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Cogent Communications

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.