Analysts Set Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) Target Price at $80.25

Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has 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 company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $80.25.

Separately, UBS Group initiated coverage on Cogent Communications in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $102.00 price target for the company.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 4,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.61, for a total transaction of $362,928.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 33,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,555,618. This represents a 12.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Blake Bath sold 6,220 shares of Cogent Communications stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.69, for a total value of $520,551.80. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $836,900. The trade was a 38.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 24,136 shares of company stock worth $1,939,749 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Cogent Communications in the third quarter worth $30,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 204.5% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 405 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 72.9% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Cogent Communications in the third quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Cogent Communications by 207.0% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 660 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 445 shares in the last quarter. 92.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cogent Communications Stock Performance

NASDAQ CCOI opened at $75.34 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.87. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $76.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $75.45. The company has a market cap of $3.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 96.59 and a beta of 0.40. Cogent Communications has a 12-month low of $50.80 and a 12-month high of $86.76.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The technology company reported ($1.33) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.34) by $0.01. Cogent Communications had a negative return on equity of 36.31% and a net margin of 3.73%. The business had revenue of $257.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $258.69 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($1.13) earnings per share. Cogent Communications’s revenue was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Cogent Communications will post -4.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a $0.995 dividend. This represents a $3.98 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.28%. This is a positive change from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.99. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. Cogent Communications’s payout ratio is currently 510.26%.

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.