Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) Sets New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Shares of Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $86.70 and last traded at $86.29, with a volume of 430996 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $84.70.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup raised their target price on Cogent Communications from $70.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $74.00 price objective on shares of Cogent Communications in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Bank of America downgraded Cogent Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Cogent Communications from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Cogent Communications from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $77.14.

Cogent Communications Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $76.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.38. The company has a market cap of $4.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 92.31 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a current ratio of 2.20.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The technology company reported ($0.68) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $260.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $264.32 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.13) EPS. Cogent Communications’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. will post -4.46 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Cogent Communications

In other Cogent Communications news, Director Lewis H. Ferguson sold 1,550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.62, for a total transaction of $112,561.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,288,859.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Dave Schaeffer sold 60,000 shares of Cogent Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.82, for a total transaction of $4,369,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 4,373,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $318,444,627.16. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Lewis H. Ferguson sold 1,550 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.62, for a total value of $112,561.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,288,859.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 64,870 shares of company stock valued at $4,716,057. 11.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cogent Communications

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CCOI. M&G Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Cogent Communications during the first quarter valued at about $27,942,000. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 327.7% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 981,623 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $64,129,000 after buying an additional 752,133 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 289.6% in the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 10,020 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $566,000 after buying an additional 7,448 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cogent Communications by 16.6% in the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 738,664 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $48,257,000 after buying an additional 105,164 shares during the period. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its stake in Cogent Communications by 55.6% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 23,015 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,467,000 after acquiring an additional 8,223 shares in the last quarter. 92.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.