Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eight analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $75.75.

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

Insider Transactions at Cogent Communications

In other news, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.57, for a total transaction of $174,168.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 41,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,975,370. This represents a 5.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lewis H. Ferguson sold 956 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.36, for a total value of $66,308.16. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,293,702.72. This represents a 4.88% decrease in their position. 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. Insiders own 10.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cogent Communications

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new stake in Cogent Communications in the first quarter worth $36,000. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Cogent Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 623 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Resources Management Corp CT ADV bought a new position in shares of Cogent Communications during the first quarter valued at approximately $48,000. 92.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cogent Communications Stock Performance

CCOI stock traded down $0.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $44.84. The company had a trading volume of 657,094 shares, compared to its average volume of 478,972. 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 firm has a market cap of $2.21 billion, a PE ratio of 57.52 and a beta of 0.76. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $55.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.81. Cogent Communications has a 12 month low of $43.67 and a 12 month high of $86.76.

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

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be paid a dividend of $1.01 per share. This represents a $4.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.01%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. This is a positive change from Cogent Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. Cogent Communications's dividend payout ratio is -100.75%.

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.