Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) Stock Price Down 4.3% on Insider Selling

Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) shares traded down 4.3% during trading on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $15.67 and last traded at $15.3650. 55,249 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 95% from the average session volume of 1,179,724 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.05.

Specifically, CFO Thaddeus Gerard Weed sold 4,850 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.79, for a total value of $81,431.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 197,900 shares in the company, valued at $3,322,741. This represents a 2.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 2,400 shares of Cogent Communications stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.01, for a total value of $40,824.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 38,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $656,586. The trade was a 5.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on CCOI. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on Cogent Communications from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Williams Trading set a $40.00 price target on shares of Cogent Communications in a report on Monday, February 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Cogent Communications in a report on Friday, May 29th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Cogent Communications from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Cogent Communications from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, April 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cogent Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $24.90.

Cogent Communications Stock Down 3.0%

The stock has a market capitalization of $779.90 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.33 and a beta of 0.77. The business’s 50-day moving average is $19.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.93.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The technology company reported ($0.83) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.03) by $0.20. The business had revenue of $239.19 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $241.31 million. Cogent Communications had a negative net margin of 17.53% and a negative return on equity of 842.48%. The business’s revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted ($1.09) EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cogent Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a dividend of $0.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -2.25%.

Institutional Trading of Cogent Communications

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Cogent Communications by 208.6% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,432 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 968 shares during the period. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,348,897 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $81,933,000 after acquiring an additional 312,050 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 77.9% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 108,875 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,051,000 after purchasing an additional 47,668 shares during the period. FourWorld Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cogent Communications during the 1st quarter worth approximately $5,002,000. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in Cogent Communications in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $319,000. 92.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Cogent Communications

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) is a multinational Internet service provider specializing in high-speed Internet access and data transport services. The company operates one of the largest Tier 1 IP networks in the world, offering wholesale and enterprise customers reliable, low-latency connectivity. Cogent’s core services include dedicated Internet access, Ethernet transport, wavelength services, and MPLS-based IP Virtual Private Networks, all delivered over its privately owned, fiber-optic backbone.

In addition to network connectivity, Cogent provides data center colocation and managed services designed to support businesses with demanding bandwidth and redundancy requirements.