Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) Shares Gap Down on Insider Selling

Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock had previously closed at $22.50, but opened at $21.85. Cogent Communications shares last traded at $21.69, with a volume of 126,356 shares traded.

Specifically, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.35, for a total transaction of $56,040.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 41,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $957,350. This represents a 5.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Thaddeus Gerard Weed sold 4,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.63, for a total value of $109,755.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 202,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,588,232.50. This trade represents a 2.34% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In other Cogent Communications news, Director Sheryl Lynn Kennedy sold 3,300 shares of Cogent Communications stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.99, for a total value of $75,867.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 10,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $232,199. The trade was a 24.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CCOI has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on Cogent Communications from $40.00 to $23.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Williams Trading set a $40.00 price target on Cogent Communications in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Cogent Communications from $33.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Cogent Communications from $27.00 to $23.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Cogent Communications in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.78.

Cogent Communications Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 49.06. The company has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.78 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $23.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.74.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 20th. The technology company reported ($0.64) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.09) by $0.45. Cogent Communications had a negative return on equity of 842.48% and a negative net margin of 18.67%.The business had revenue of $240.52 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $243.82 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.91) EPS. Cogent Communications’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cogent Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -2.10%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cogent Communications

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Cogent Communications by 5.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,362,821 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $205,664,000 after buying an additional 270,975 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 30.1% during the third quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 177,113 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,792,000 after buying an additional 40,970 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 1.9% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,060,367 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $51,127,000 after buying an additional 20,055 shares in the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 44.6% in the 2nd quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 206,800 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $9,970,000 after acquiring an additional 63,750 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arvin Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Cogent Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,301,000. 92.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cogent Communications Company Profile

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) is a multinational Internet service provider specializing in high-speed Internet access and data transport services. The company operates one of the largest Tier 1 IP networks in the world, offering wholesale and enterprise customers reliable, low-latency connectivity. Cogent’s core services include dedicated Internet access, Ethernet transport, wavelength services, and MPLS-based IP Virtual Private Networks, all delivered over its privately owned, fiber-optic backbone.

In addition to network connectivity, Cogent provides data center colocation and managed services designed to support businesses with demanding bandwidth and redundancy requirements.