Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Cogent Communications from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Bank of America downgraded shares of Cogent Communications from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Cogent Communications from $74.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. TheStreet raised shares of Cogent Communications from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Cogent Communications from $81.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cogent Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $77.57.

Cogent Communications Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of Cogent Communications stock opened at $63.13 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24. Cogent Communications has a 12-month low of $57.35 and a 12-month high of $86.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $69.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.34.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The technology company reported ($0.16) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.95) by $0.79. Cogent Communications had a net margin of 135.34% and a negative return on equity of 23.66%. The business had revenue of $272.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $275.82 million. Analysts predict that Cogent Communications will post -3.35 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Dave Schaeffer sold 8,826 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.55, for a total transaction of $640,326.30. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,815,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $349,383,678.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Dave Schaeffer sold 8,826 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.55, for a total transaction of $640,326.30. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,815,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $349,383,678.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.47, for a total transaction of $176,328.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 41,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,012,270. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 69,320 shares of company stock valued at $4,669,997. Corporate insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cogent Communications

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ellsworth Advisors LLC raised its position in Cogent Communications by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 5,932 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $451,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in Cogent Communications by 1.3% during the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 12,379 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $766,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the period. Creative Planning raised its position in Cogent Communications by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Creative Planning now owns 6,123 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $350,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the period. UBS Group AG raised its position in Cogent Communications by 9.0% during the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,685 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $166,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the period. Finally, First Republic Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Cogent Communications by 5.8% during the first quarter. First Republic Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,038 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $257,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the period. 92.45% of the stock is currently 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.