The Goldman Sachs Group Begins Coverage on Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI)

The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) in a report published on Monday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a neutral rating and a $56.00 price objective on the technology company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on CCOI. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Cogent Communications from $84.00 to $78.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 10th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Cogent Communications from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Cogent Communications from $73.00 to $70.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 13th. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of Cogent Communications from $88.00 to $80.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of Cogent Communications from a buy rating to a neutral rating and cut their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cogent Communications currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $73.57.

Cogent Communications Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of CCOI opened at $55.39 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.72 billion, a PE ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.41. Cogent Communications has a 1 year low of $50.80 and a 1 year high of $86.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.80, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $57.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.63.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The technology company reported ($1.29) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.10) by ($0.19). The business had revenue of $266.17 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $274.13 million. Cogent Communications had a negative return on equity of 24.63% and a net margin of 114.09%. Analysts forecast that Cogent Communications will post -4.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd were paid a $0.975 dividend. This is a positive change from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.97. This represents a $3.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 22nd. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cogent Communications

In other news, CEO Dave Schaeffer sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.44, for a total transaction of $2,972,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,553,038 shares in the company, valued at $270,632,578.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Dave Schaeffer sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.44, for a total transaction of $2,972,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,553,038 shares in the company, valued at $270,632,578.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Thaddeus Gerard Weed sold 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.60, for a total transaction of $126,240.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 93,300 shares in the company, valued at $4,907,580. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 178,440 shares of company stock worth $9,828,016 over the last three months. Insiders own 11.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cogent Communications

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jackson Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 4.2% during the first quarter. Jackson Wealth Management LLC now owns 32,925 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,151,000 after purchasing an additional 1,313 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 16.6% during the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 738,664 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $48,257,000 after purchasing an additional 105,164 shares during the period. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 500.1% during the first quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,051,568 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $68,699,000 after purchasing an additional 876,326 shares during the period. Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Cogent Communications during the first quarter worth $381,000. Finally, Hood River Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 19.2% during the first quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC now owns 735,494 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $48,050,000 after purchasing an additional 118,588 shares during the period. 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.