KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Invests $709,000 in Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 9,200 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $709,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Cogent Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cogent Communications during the 4th quarter worth $46,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Cogent Communications by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 623 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new position in Cogent Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $63,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in Cogent Communications by 132.1% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 875 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. 92.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cogent Communications Stock Up 0.6 %

Cogent Communications stock opened at $61.66 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 79.05 and a beta of 0.45. Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $50.80 and a 52-week high of $86.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.87, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a current ratio of 2.03. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $73.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $76.45.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The technology company reported ($0.91) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.22) by $0.31. Cogent Communications had a net margin of 3.73% and a negative return on equity of 36.31%. The business had revenue of $252.29 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $258.49 million. Equities analysts predict that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.55 EPS for the current year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $1.005 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $4.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.52%. This is a boost from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -93.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cogent Communications news, Director Sheryl Lynn Kennedy sold 1,425 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.96, for a total value of $103,968.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $740,325.12. This trade represents a 12.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $2,975,370. This trade represents a 5.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 11,681 shares of company stock worth $840,878. 11.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cogent Communications to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.