Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decline in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,570,000 shares, a decline of 17.9% from the March 15th total of 3,130,000 shares. Currently, 6.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 416,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.2 days.

Cogent Communications Stock Down 3.5 %

NASDAQ CCOI traded down $2.29 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $63.00. The company had a trading volume of 607,401 shares, compared to its average volume of 479,945. Cogent Communications has a fifty-two week low of $57.35 and a fifty-two week high of $86.00. The company has a market capitalization of $2.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The firm's 50 day moving average is $70.07 and its 200 day moving average is $69.39.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The technology company reported ($0.16) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.95) by $0.79. Cogent Communications had a negative return on equity of 23.66% and a net margin of 135.34%. The firm had revenue of $272.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $275.82 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Cogent Communications will post -3.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.965 dividend. This is a boost from Cogent Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.96. This represents a $3.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Cogent Communications's dividend payout ratio is presently 14.43%.

Insider Transactions at Cogent Communications

In related news, CEO Dave Schaeffer sold 8,826 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.55, for a total value of $640,326.30. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 4,815,764 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $349,383,678.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CRO James Bubeck sold 1,920 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.62, for a total value of $147,110.40. Following the sale, the executive now owns 54,822 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,200,461.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Dave Schaeffer sold 8,826 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.55, for a total value of $640,326.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,815,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $349,383,678.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 69,320 shares of company stock valued at $4,669,997 in the last quarter. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cogent Communications

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CCOI. Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in Cogent Communications by 50.3% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 27,448 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,821,000 after buying an additional 9,180 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. boosted its position in Cogent Communications by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 51,289 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,402,000 after buying an additional 3,265 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in Cogent Communications by 31.2% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,991 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $264,000 after buying an additional 950 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Cogent Communications by 47.9% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 22,270 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,478,000 after buying an additional 7,213 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Cogent Communications by 35.5% in the 1st quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,424 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $824,000 after buying an additional 3,258 shares during the last quarter. 92.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America downgraded Cogent Communications from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the company from $85.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, March 7th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Cogent Communications from $81.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. StockNews.com downgraded Cogent Communications from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. TheStreet upgraded Cogent Communications from a "c+" rating to a "b" rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on Cogent Communications from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $77.57.

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.

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