M&G PLC Acquires 53,261 Shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. $CCOI

M&G PLC increased its stake in shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) by 16.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 376,497 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 53,261 shares during the quarter. M&G PLC owned 0.76% of Cogent Communications worth $18,072,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 30.4% in the 1st quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,012,297 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $123,374,000 after acquiring an additional 469,028 shares during the last quarter. Magnolia Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cogent Communications during the second quarter worth $52,704,000. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 15.7% during the first quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 808,061 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $49,542,000 after purchasing an additional 109,543 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 15.3% during the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 673,921 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $41,318,000 after purchasing an additional 89,536 shares during the period. Finally, Senator Investment Group LP grew its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 0.5% in the first quarter. Senator Investment Group LP now owns 586,474 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $35,957,000 after purchasing an additional 2,834 shares during the last quarter. 92.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cogent Communications

In other Cogent Communications news, Director Sheryl Lynn Kennedy sold 2,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.34, for a total transaction of $51,216.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 10,012 shares in the company, valued at approximately $213,656.08. This represents a 19.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.99, for a total transaction of $88,776.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 36,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,339,038. This represents a 6.22% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 6,800 shares of company stock worth $212,692 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CCOI has been the subject of several research reports. Zacks Research cut shares of Cogent Communications from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on Cogent Communications from $65.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $40.00 price objective (down from $74.00) on shares of Cogent Communications in a report on Friday, August 8th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $27.00 target price (down from $50.00) on shares of Cogent Communications in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Cogent Communications in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $29.00.

Cogent Communications Trading Down 10.3%

Shares of NASDAQ CCOI opened at $18.49 on Thursday. Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $18.46 and a 1-year high of $85.18. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $38.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $908.25 million, a P/E ratio of -4.07 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 49.06, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 2.31.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported ($0.87) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.15) by $0.28. Cogent Communications had a negative net margin of 21.57% and a negative return on equity of 117.56%. The business had revenue of $241.95 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $246.13 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($1.33) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cogent Communications declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, August 7th that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to purchase up to 4.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Cogent Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 21st will be paid a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 21st. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -1.96%.

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.