Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) Trading Down 4.6% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) traded down 4.6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $65.53 and last traded at $65.05. 111,269 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 420,704 shares. The stock had previously closed at $68.15.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com raised 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 given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $80.25.

Cogent Communications Stock Down 6.1 %

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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $75.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $76.86. The stock has a market cap of $3.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 82.04 and a beta of 0.45.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The technology company reported ($0.91) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $252.29 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $258.49 million. Equities analysts forecast that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.55 EPS for the current year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a $1.005 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $4.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.28%. This is a boost from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio is -93.49%.

Insider Activity

In other Cogent Communications news, Director Sheryl Lynn Kennedy sold 1,425 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $740,325.12. This trade represents a 12.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Thaddeus Gerard Weed sold 4,900 shares of Cogent Communications stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $353,094.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 103,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,422,180. This represents a 4.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 11,681 shares of company stock worth $840,878. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CCOI. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cogent Communications in the third quarter worth about $46,000. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Cogent Communications by 85.7% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 16,908 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,284,000 after purchasing an additional 7,803 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 497,486 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $37,769,000 after buying an additional 21,429 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its holdings in Cogent Communications by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 9,171 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $696,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 56.8% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 56,595 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,297,000 after buying an additional 20,510 shares in the last quarter. 92.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cogent Communications Company Profile

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.