Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) Short Interest Down 6.0% in September

Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 4,200,000 shares, a drop of 6.0% from the September 15th total of 4,470,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 440,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 9.5 days. Approximately 9.5% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Dave Schaeffer sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.82, for a total transaction of $4,369,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,373,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $318,444,627.16. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Cogent Communications news, CRO James Bubeck sold 1,920 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.77, for a total transaction of $133,958.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now owns 50,982 shares in the company, valued at $3,557,014.14. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Dave Schaeffer sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.82, for a total value of $4,369,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,373,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $318,444,627.16. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 64,870 shares of company stock valued at $4,716,057. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cogent Communications

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CCOI. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in Cogent Communications by 2,739.1% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,035,261 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $58,430,000 after purchasing an additional 998,796 shares in the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 500.1% in the 1st quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,051,568 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $68,699,000 after acquiring an additional 876,326 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 327.7% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 981,623 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $64,129,000 after purchasing an additional 752,133 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc bought a new stake in shares of Cogent Communications in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,942,000. Finally, Senator Investment Group LP grew its holdings in Cogent Communications by 83.0% during the first quarter. Senator Investment Group LP now owns 666,768 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $43,560,000 after purchasing an additional 302,365 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.45% of the company’s stock.

Cogent Communications Price Performance

NASDAQ:CCOI traded up $0.73 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $84.39. 78,136 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 447,400. The company has a fifty day moving average of $73.85 and a 200 day moving average of $65.39. The stock has a market cap of $4.14 billion, a PE ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.41. Cogent Communications has a 12 month low of $50.80 and a 12 month high of $86.00. The company has a quick ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The technology company reported ($0.68) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.27) by $0.59. The firm had revenue of $260.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $264.32 million. Cogent Communications had a negative return on equity of 32.14% and a net margin of 4.26%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.13) earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Cogent Communications will post -4.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.985 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 22nd. This is an increase from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $3.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.67%. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Cogent Communications from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Cogent Communications from $62.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Cogent Communications from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Cogent Communications from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $74.00 target price on shares of Cogent Communications in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $77.14.

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.