Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) Shares Sold by River Road Asset Management LLC

River Road Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI - Free Report) by 8.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 260,518 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 24,144 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC owned about 0.53% of Cogent Communications worth $20,078,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,750,810 shares of the technology company's stock worth $132,921,000 after buying an additional 22,738 shares during the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,542,503 shares of the technology company's stock worth $117,107,000 after buying an additional 5,307 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,039,458 shares of the technology company's stock worth $78,916,000 after buying an additional 4,197 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,014,322 shares of the technology company's stock worth $77,021,000 after buying an additional 3,093 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 800,758 shares of the technology company's stock worth $60,793,000 after buying an additional 79,474 shares during the last quarter. 92.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cogent Communications news, CRO James Bubeck sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.67, for a total value of $143,340.00. Following the sale, the executive now directly owns 57,142 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,095,367.14. This trade represents a 3.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lewis H. Ferguson sold 956 shares of Cogent Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.36, for a total value of $66,308.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 18,652 shares in the company, valued at $1,293,702.72. This represents a 4.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,681 shares of company stock valued at $840,878 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on CCOI. UBS Group began coverage on Cogent Communications in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. They set a "buy" rating and a $102.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded Cogent Communications to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Two 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $80.25.

Cogent Communications Trading Up 1.3 %

Cogent Communications stock traded up $0.91 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $68.52. The company's stock had a trading volume of 310,283 shares, compared to its average volume of 369,208. Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $50.80 and a one year high of $86.76. The company has a 50 day moving average of $75.42 and a 200-day moving average of $76.82. The stock has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a PE ratio of 87.85 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.87, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a current ratio of 2.03.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The technology company reported ($0.91) EPS 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $258.49 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.55 EPS for the current year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.005 per share. This represents a $4.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.87%. This is a positive change from Cogent Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. Cogent Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -93.49%.

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.