Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) Shares Down 2.7% - Here's What Happened

Shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI - Get Free Report) were down 2.7% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $50.18 and last traded at $50.11. Approximately 233,243 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 49% from the average daily volume of 456,187 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.50.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Cogent Communications to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $80.25.

Cogent Communications Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $2.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.63 and a beta of 0.69. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $63.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.49.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The technology company reported ($0.91) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.22) by $0.31. Cogent Communications had a negative return on equity of 36.31% and a net margin of 3.73%. The firm had revenue of $252.29 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $258.49 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $1.005 per share. This represents a $4.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.51%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Cogent Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Cogent Communications's payout ratio is currently -93.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cogent Communications

In related news, Director Sheryl Lynn Kennedy sold 1,425 shares of the 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Thaddeus Gerard Weed sold 4,900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $353,094.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 103,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,422,180. This represents a 4.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,681 shares of company stock worth $840,878. Insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Cogent Communications

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,114,596 shares of the technology company's stock worth $394,182,000 after acquiring an additional 43,523 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 509,344 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $39,255,000 after purchasing an additional 11,858 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in Cogent Communications by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 52,770 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,067,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Cogent Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,994,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Cogent Communications by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 206,196 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $15,892,000 after buying an additional 6,235 shares in the last quarter. 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.