Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) Shares Down 8.3% – Time to Sell?

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, UBS Group began coverage on shares of Cogent Communications in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $102.00 price objective on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $80.25.

Cogent Communications Trading Down 9.5 %

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

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.22) by $0.31. Cogent Communications had a negative return on equity of 36.31% and a net margin of 3.73%. Equities analysts expect that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $1.005 per share. This is a positive change from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.55%. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 510.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 4,800 shares of Cogent Communications stock in a transaction dated 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 $2,555,618. The trade was a 12.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CRO James Bubeck sold 1,920 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive now directly owns 49,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,794,917.20. This trade represents a 3.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 13,440 shares of company stock valued at $1,057,910. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Cogent Communications in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Cogent Communications by 204.5% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 405 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Cogent Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at about $46,000. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cogent Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department bought a new stake in shares of Cogent Communications in the 4th quarter worth $63,000. 92.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.