Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

by · The Cerbat Gem

Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI – Get Free Report) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,390,000 shares, a drop of 11.8% from the August 15th total of 4,980,000 shares. Approximately 9.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 500,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 8.8 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Cogent Communications from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Bank of America cut Cogent Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $75.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $74.00 price objective on shares of Cogent Communications in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. KeyCorp upped their price target on Cogent Communications from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Cogent Communications from $70.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cogent Communications presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $75.86.

View Our Latest Analysis on Cogent Communications

Insider Activity

In other news, VP John B. Chang sold 1,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.67, for a total value of $100,338.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 71,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,130,138.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Cogent Communications news, VP John B. Chang sold 1,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.67, for a total value of $100,338.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 71,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,130,138.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Dave Schaeffer sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.82, for a total transaction of $4,369,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,373,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $318,444,627.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 64,870 shares of company stock worth $4,716,057 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cogent Communications

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Truist Financial Corp raised its position in Cogent Communications by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 4,221 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $321,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 453,769 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $34,514,000 after acquiring an additional 4,413 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 47.8% in the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 5,700 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $434,000 after acquiring an additional 1,843 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in Cogent Communications in the 4th quarter worth $211,000. Finally, Prairieview Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Cogent Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $634,000. 92.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cogent Communications Stock Performance

CCOI traded down $0.41 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $70.32. The stock had a trading volume of 300,221 shares, compared to its average volume of 452,730. Cogent Communications has a 1 year low of $50.80 and a 1 year high of $86.00. The stock has a market cap of $3.45 billion, a PE ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $69.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.88.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The technology company reported ($0.68) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.27) by $0.59. Cogent Communications had a net margin of 4.26% and a negative return on equity of 32.14%. The business had revenue of $260.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $264.32 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.13) EPS. Cogent Communications’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Cogent Communications will post -4.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd were given a dividend of $0.985 per share. This represents a $3.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.60%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 22nd. This is an increase from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.61%.

Cogent Communications Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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