Analysts Set Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) Target Price at $77.14

Shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation, four have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $80.25.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Cogent Communications from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. UBS Group began coverage on Cogent Communications in a research report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup increased their price objective on Cogent Communications from $70.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Bank of America downgraded Cogent Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $74.00 price objective on shares of Cogent Communications in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd.

Insider Transactions at Cogent Communications

In other news, VP John B. Chang sold 2,280 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.41, for a total value of $183,334.80. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 69,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,572,413. This represents a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Dave Schaeffer sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.82, for a total transaction of $4,369,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,373,038 shares in the company, valued at $318,444,627.16. This trade represents a 1.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 68,500 shares of company stock valued at $5,008,175. 11.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cogent Communications

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. increased its position in Cogent Communications by 0.5% during the third quarter. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. now owns 41,079 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,119,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Cogent Communications by 1.1% during the second quarter. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC now owns 19,407 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,095,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Cogent Communications by 72.9% during the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 536 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its holdings in Cogent Communications by 5.5% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 4,984 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $378,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Cogent Communications by 204.5% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 405 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares during the period. 92.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cogent Communications Stock Performance

CCOI opened at $79.40 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 101.79 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.87, a current ratio of 2.03 and a quick ratio of 2.03. Cogent Communications has a 1-year low of $50.80 and a 1-year high of $86.76. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $78.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $68.12.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The technology company reported ($1.33) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.34) by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $257.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $258.69 million. Cogent Communications had a negative return on equity of 36.31% and a net margin of 3.73%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($1.13) earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Cogent Communications will post -4.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a $0.995 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This is an increase from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.99. This represents a $3.98 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.01%. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 505.13%.

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.