Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) Trading 4.6% Higher – Should You Buy?

Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI)’s share price rose 4.6% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $20.03 and last traded at $20.1070. Approximately 315,069 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 1,153,534 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.22.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CCOI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Cogent Communications from $27.00 to $23.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on Cogent Communications from $40.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Cogent Communications in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Williams Trading set a $40.00 price objective on Cogent Communications in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Cogent Communications in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.67.

Cogent Communications Trading Up 4.9%

The firm has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.29 and a beta of 0.77. The business has a 50-day moving average of $21.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.31.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last issued 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 business had revenue of $240.52 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $243.82 million. Cogent Communications had a negative return on equity of 842.48% and a negative net margin of 18.67%.Cogent Communications’s quarterly revenue was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.91) EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.55 EPS for the current year.

Cogent Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th were given a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 6th. Cogent Communications’s payout ratio is -2.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cogent Communications news, Director Sheryl Lynn Kennedy sold 3,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.99, for a total value of $75,867.00. Following the sale, the director owned 10,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $232,199. The trade was a 24.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 2,400 shares of the company’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 owned 41,000 shares in the company, valued at $957,350. This trade represents a 5.53% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,756 shares of company stock worth $292,467. Corporate insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cogent Communications

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,362,821 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $205,664,000 after purchasing an additional 270,975 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 30.1% during the 3rd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 177,113 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,792,000 after purchasing an additional 40,970 shares in the last quarter. Arvin Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Cogent Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,301,000. Boothbay Fund Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 123.4% during the 3rd quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC now owns 312,626 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $11,989,000 after purchasing an additional 172,676 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tyro Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Cogent Communications by 46.9% during the 3rd quarter. Tyro Capital Management LLC now owns 935,287 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $35,868,000 after buying an additional 298,392 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.45% of the company’s stock.

About Cogent Communications

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.