Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) Short Interest Up 15.3% in December

Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,620,000 shares, a growth of 15.3% from the December 15th total of 3,140,000 shares. Approximately 8.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 404,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 8.9 days.

Insider Activity at Cogent Communications

In related news, Director Sheryl Lynn Kennedy sold 1,350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.58, for a total value of $108,783.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $831,424.44. This trade represents a 11.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Blake Bath sold 6,220 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.69, for a total transaction of $520,551.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $836,900. The trade was a 38.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,136 shares of company stock valued at $1,939,749 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cogent Communications

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC increased its holdings in Cogent Communications by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 5,645 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $405,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Cogent Communications by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,841 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,221,000 after acquiring an additional 2,235 shares during the period. Meyer Handelman Co. bought a new position in Cogent Communications during the 4th quarter worth about $284,000. Tyro Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Tyro Capital Management LLC now owns 350,304 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,595,000 after purchasing an additional 2,063 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 0.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,014,322 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $77,021,000 after purchasing an additional 3,093 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.45% of the company’s stock.

Cogent Communications Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of CCOI traded up $0.40 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $72.60. The stock had a trading volume of 217,042 shares, compared to its average volume of 399,608. Cogent Communications has a 1 year low of $50.80 and a 1 year high of $86.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.87, a current ratio of 2.03 and a quick ratio of 2.03. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $77.32 and its 200 day moving average is $74.41. The firm has a market cap of $3.56 billion, a PE ratio of 93.08 and a beta of 0.40.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The technology company reported ($1.33) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.34) by $0.01. The business had revenue of $257.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $258.69 million. Cogent Communications had a net margin of 3.73% and a negative return on equity of 36.31%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($1.13) earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Cogent Communications will post -4.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were given a $0.995 dividend. This represents a $3.98 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. This is an increase from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.99. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 510.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group started coverage on Cogent Communications in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $102.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Cogent Communications from $62.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $80.25.

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.