Stifel Financial Corp Sells 6,479 Shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI)

Stifel Financial Corp reduced its stake in Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI - Free Report) by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 54,427 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 6,479 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp owned 0.11% of Cogent Communications worth $4,132,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Parallax Volatility Advisers L.P. grew its position in Cogent Communications by 48.0% in the 3rd quarter. Parallax Volatility Advisers L.P. now owns 11,795 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $895,000 after purchasing an additional 3,825 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Cogent Communications during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Cinctive Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Cogent Communications in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,425,000. Atom Investors LP bought a new position in Cogent Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,565,000. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new position in Cogent Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,325,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.45% of the company's stock.

Cogent Communications Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CCOI traded down $1.12 on Monday, reaching $76.17. 538,335 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 437,960. The firm has a market cap of $3.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 97.65 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.87, a current ratio of 2.03 and a quick ratio of 2.03. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $80.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $71.09. Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $50.80 and a 52 week high of $86.76.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The technology company reported ($1.33) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.34) by $0.01. Cogent Communications had a net margin of 3.73% and a negative return on equity of 36.31%. The business had revenue of $257.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $258.69 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($1.13) EPS. Cogent Communications's revenue was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a $0.995 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.98 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.23%. This is an increase from Cogent Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.99. Cogent Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 510.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cogent Communications

In related news, Director Blake Bath sold 6,220 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.69, for a total transaction of $520,551.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $836,900. The trade was a 38.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP John B. Chang sold 2,280 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.41, for a total value of $183,334.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 69,300 shares in the company, valued at $5,572,413. This represents a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,136 shares of company stock valued at $1,939,749 in the last quarter. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. KeyCorp raised their target price on Cogent Communications from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Bank of America cut shares of Cogent Communications from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $65.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Cogent Communications from $70.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Cogent Communications from $62.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $74.00 price objective on shares of Cogent Communications in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $80.25.

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.