Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) Trading Down 8.3% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) fell 8.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $72.98 and last traded at $73.47. 118,220 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 63% from the average session volume of 317,404 shares. The stock had previously closed at $80.11.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, UBS Group initiated coverage on Cogent Communications in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cogent Communications has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $80.25.

Cogent Communications Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $76.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.87, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a current ratio of 2.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.55 billion, a PE ratio of 92.80 and a beta of 0.40.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The technology company reported ($0.91) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.22) by $0.31. Cogent Communications had a net margin of 3.73% and a negative return on equity of 36.31%. As a group, research analysts predict that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a $1.005 dividend. This is an increase from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.55%. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 510.26%.

Insider Transactions at Cogent Communications

In other news, CRO James Bubeck sold 1,920 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.60, for a total transaction of $147,072.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now owns 49,542 shares in the company, valued at $3,794,917.20. This represents a 3.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 4,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.61, for a total value of $362,928.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 33,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,555,618. This trade represents a 12.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 13,440 shares of company stock worth $1,057,910. Insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ulysses Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Ulysses Management LLC now owns 372,166 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,683,000 after purchasing an additional 32,596 shares in the last quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Cogent Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $9,649,000. Tyro Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Cogent Communications by 20.1% in the fourth quarter. Tyro Capital Management LLC now owns 420,825 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $32,433,000 after buying an additional 70,521 shares in the last quarter. Shellback Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Cogent Communications during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $9,255,000. Finally, SG Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 105.2% during the 4th quarter. SG Capital Management LLC now owns 201,916 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $15,562,000 after acquiring an additional 103,498 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.45% of the company’s stock.

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.