Analysts Set Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) PT at $75.75

Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the eight analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $75.75.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on CCOI shares. Wall Street Zen raised Cogent Communications to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Cogent Communications from $71.00 to $62.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Cogent Communications from $102.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 9th.

Cogent Communications Price Performance

Shares of CCOI traded down $0.44 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $48.19. 695,091 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 502,347. Cogent Communications has a 12 month low of $43.65 and a 12 month high of $86.76. The company has a current ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.87. The stock has a market cap of $2.38 billion, a PE ratio of 61.78 and a beta of 0.72. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $50.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.42.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The technology company reported ($1.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.05) by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $247.05 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $250.81 million. Cogent Communications had a negative return on equity of 36.31% and a net margin of 3.73%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($1.38) EPS. Equities analysts expect that Cogent Communications will post -4.55 EPS for the current year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd were issued a $1.01 dividend. This is an increase from Cogent Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. This represents a $4.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.38%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 22nd. Cogent Communications's payout ratio is currently -100.75%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Dave Schaeffer sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.67, for a total value of $973,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 4,131,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $201,090,861.07. This trade represents a 0.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Thaddeus Gerard Weed sold 4,900 shares of Cogent Communications stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.04, for a total value of $235,396.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 98,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,707,920. This trade represents a 4.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 265,500 shares of company stock worth $12,712,319 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 10.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CCOI. AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cogent Communications in the first quarter worth $36,000. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cogent Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its stake in Cogent Communications by 58.9% in the 4th quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 618 shares of the technology company's stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV acquired a new stake in Cogent Communications during the 1st quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new stake in Cogent Communications during the 4th quarter worth about $63,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.45% of the company's stock.

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.