Insider Selling: Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) Director Sells 1,425 Shares of Stock

Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) Director Sheryl Lynn Kennedy sold 1,425 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.96, for a total value of $103,968.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 10,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $740,325.12. This trade represents a 12.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Cogent Communications Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of Cogent Communications stock opened at $71.32 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 91.44 and a beta of 0.40. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $76.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $77.10. Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $50.80 and a 1-year high of $86.76. 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 (NASDAQ:CCOI) last released 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%. The firm had revenue of $252.29 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $258.49 million. Analysts predict that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 is a boost from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.64%. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently -93.49%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Cogent Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Cogent Communications by 204.5% in 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 last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Cogent Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Cogent Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new position in Cogent Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,000. 92.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on CCOI shares. UBS Group started 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. StockNews.com upgraded Cogent Communications to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $80.25.

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.