Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) Price Target Lowered to $23.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) had its price objective decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $27.00 to $23.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the technology company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on CCOI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Cogent Communications from $37.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Williams Trading set a $40.00 target price on shares of Cogent Communications in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Cogent Communications in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Cogent Communications from $33.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on Cogent Communications from $40.00 to $23.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.78.

Cogent Communications Stock Performance

NASDAQ CCOI opened at $22.77 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $23.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $29.18. Cogent Communications has a 12-month low of $15.96 and a 12-month high of $72.68. The company has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.98 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 49.06.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 20th. The technology company reported ($0.64) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.09) by $0.45. The firm had revenue of $240.52 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $243.82 million. Cogent Communications had a negative return on equity of 842.48% and a negative net margin of 18.67%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.91) EPS. Analysts anticipate that Cogent Communications will post -4.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Cogent Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. Cogent Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -2.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Sheryl Lynn Kennedy sold 3,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.99, for a total transaction of $75,867.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 10,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $232,199. This trade represents a 24.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Lewis H. Ferguson sold 2,206 shares of Cogent Communications stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.03, for a total transaction of $50,804.18. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,449 shares in the company, valued at approximately $470,940.47. This trade represents a 9.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 10,356 shares of company stock worth $236,427 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in Cogent Communications during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Cogent Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $416,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its position in shares of Cogent Communications by 60.0% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 18,857 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $407,000 after acquiring an additional 7,071 shares during the last quarter. Twinbeech Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Cogent Communications in the fourth quarter worth approximately $398,000. Finally, Man Group plc boosted its holdings in Cogent Communications by 2,685.1% in the fourth quarter. Man Group plc now owns 326,168 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,032,000 after acquiring an additional 314,457 shares during the last quarter. 92.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cogent Communications News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Cogent Communications this week:

• Neutral Sentiment: Company presentation transcript from the Morgan Stanley Tech/Media/Telecom conference is now available; investor Q&A may provide fresh management commentary but no immediate material catalyst was reported in the transcript summary. Morgan Stanley Conference Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Two recent analytical pieces review Cogent’s valuation and a proposed dividend pairing with ongoing losses; these discuss governance and capital-allocation trade-offs but do not present new financial data. Investors may parse these for long-term thesis adjustments. Does Cogent Pairing Losses With A Dividend?
• Neutral Sentiment: Another recent article revisits Cogent’s valuation after recent share volatility; useful context but not a direct driver of intraday moves. Valuation After Volatility
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short-interest figures appear to be erroneous or zeroed out (entries show 0 shares / NaN increases and a 0.0 days-to-cover), indicating no reliable short-interest change to interpret at this time — treat short-interest data as unavailable.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: CFO Thaddeus Weed sold 4,850 shares (~$22.63 avg) and two directors (Sheryl Kennedy and Lewis Ferguson) sold 3,300 and 2,206 shares respectively. These filings show notable reductions in insiders’ holdings percentages and can increase downside pressure or signal management liquidity needs. CFO Form 4 Director Kennedy Form 4 Director Ferguson Form 4
• Negative Sentiment: Wells Fargo trimmed its price target from $27 to $23 and kept an “equal weight” rating — the lower target and lack of an upgrade reduce buy-side enthusiasm and may weigh on the stock. Wells Fargo Price Target Note

Cogent Communications Company Profile

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) is a multinational Internet service provider specializing in high-speed Internet access and data transport services. The company operates one of the largest Tier 1 IP networks in the world, offering wholesale and enterprise customers reliable, low-latency connectivity. Cogent’s core services include dedicated Internet access, Ethernet transport, wavelength services, and MPLS-based IP Virtual Private Networks, all delivered over its privately owned, fiber-optic backbone.

In addition to network connectivity, Cogent provides data center colocation and managed services designed to support businesses with demanding bandwidth and redundancy requirements.