Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) Stock Price Down 4.6% – What’s Next?

Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) shares fell 4.6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $65.53 and last traded at $65.05. 111,269 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 420,704 shares. The stock had previously closed at $68.15.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Cogent Communications Trading Down 2.5 %

The company has a market cap of $3.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.85 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.70. The company has a quick ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.87.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The technology company reported ($0.91) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.22) by $0.31. Cogent Communications had a net margin of 3.73% and a negative return on equity of 36.31%. The firm had revenue of $252.29 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $258.49 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a $1.005 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $4.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.54%. This is a boost from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently -93.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Sheryl Lynn Kennedy sold 1,425 shares of Cogent Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.96, for a total transaction of $103,968.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,147 shares in the company, valued at $740,325.12. The trade was a 12.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Thaddeus Gerard Weed sold 4,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total value of $353,094.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 103,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,422,180. This trade represents a 4.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,681 shares of company stock valued at $840,878. 11.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cogent Communications

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Cogent Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cogent Communications during the third quarter worth about $46,000. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cogent Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 623 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in shares of Cogent Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.