Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) Stock Price Down 6.7% – Here’s What Happened

Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) was down 6.7% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $18.62 and last traded at $18.6810. Approximately 275,435 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 1,136,462 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.02.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CCOI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. KeyCorp lowered their price target on Cogent Communications from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on Cogent Communications from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Cogent Communications in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Cogent Communications from $40.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Cogent Communications from $27.00 to $23.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Cogent Communications has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.67.

Cogent Communications Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $928.31 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.86 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 49.06. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $22.88 and a 200-day moving average of $27.99.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 20th. The technology company reported ($0.64) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.09) by $0.45. The company had revenue of $240.52 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $243.82 million. Cogent Communications had a negative net margin of 18.67% and a negative return on equity of 842.48%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.91) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cogent Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -2.10%.

Insider Activity at Cogent Communications

In other news, CFO Thaddeus Gerard Weed sold 4,850 shares of Cogent Communications stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.63, for a total transaction of $109,755.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 202,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,588,232.50. The trade was a 2.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 2,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.35, for a total value of $56,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 41,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $957,350. The trade was a 5.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 12,756 shares of company stock valued at $292,467 in the last ninety days. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cogent Communications

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CCOI. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Cogent Communications by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,580,271 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $120,311,000 after acquiring an additional 217,450 shares during the period. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 64.9% during the 3rd quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,603,933 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $176,561,000 after purchasing an additional 1,811,222 shares during the period. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 13.3% in the 2nd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,279,440 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $109,892,000 after purchasing an additional 267,143 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,070,132 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $44,632,000 after purchasing an additional 132,454 shares during the period. Finally, Park West Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cogent Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,380,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.45% of the company’s stock.

Cogent Communications Company Profile

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) is a multinational Internet service provider specializing in high-speed Internet access and data transport services. The company operates one of the largest Tier 1 IP networks in the world, offering wholesale and enterprise customers reliable, low-latency connectivity. Cogent’s core services include dedicated Internet access, Ethernet transport, wavelength services, and MPLS-based IP Virtual Private Networks, all delivered over its privately owned, fiber-optic backbone.

In addition to network connectivity, Cogent provides data center colocation and managed services designed to support businesses with demanding bandwidth and redundancy requirements.