Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) Price Target Lowered to $23.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) had its price target reduced by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $37.00 to $23.00 in a research report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the technology company’s stock.

CCOI has been the subject of several other research reports. Zacks Research cut shares of Cogent Communications from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $27.00 price target (down previously from $50.00) on shares of Cogent Communications in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Cogent Communications from $33.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Cogent Communications from $65.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Cogent Communications from $40.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.71.

Cogent Communications Trading Up 5.2%

Shares of NASDAQ CCOI traded up $0.87 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $17.55. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,807,563 shares, compared to its average volume of 970,072. The business’s 50 day moving average is $38.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.46. Cogent Communications has a 12-month low of $15.96 and a 12-month high of $85.18. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 49.06. The firm has a market cap of $862.07 million, a P/E ratio of -3.87 and a beta of 0.77.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported ($0.87) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.15) by $0.28. The business had revenue of $241.95 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $246.13 million. Cogent Communications had a negative net margin of 21.57% and a negative return on equity of 117.56%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($1.33) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Cogent Communications will post -4.55 EPS for the current year.

Cogent Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 21st will be issued a $0.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 21st. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Cogent Communications’s payout ratio is presently -1.96%.

Cogent Communications announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, August 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to repurchase up to 4.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 2,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.99, for a total transaction of $88,776.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 36,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,339,038. This represents a 6.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sheryl Lynn Kennedy sold 2,400 shares of Cogent Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.34, for a total value of $51,216.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 10,012 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $213,656.08. This represents a 19.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 6,800 shares of company stock worth $212,692. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cogent Communications

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. AlphaQuest LLC bought a new stake in Cogent Communications during the first quarter valued at $36,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 297.8% in the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 740 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 554 shares during the period. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new position in shares of Cogent Communications during the second quarter valued at $40,000. Byrne Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cogent Communications in the second quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Resources Management Corp CT ADV bought a new stake in Cogent Communications in the first quarter worth approximately $48,000. 92.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.