Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) Price Target Lowered to $25.00 at The Goldman Sachs Group

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) had its price target lowered by stock analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $40.00 to $25.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the technology company’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 6.43% from the company’s current price.

CCOI has been the topic of a number of other reports. Citigroup lowered shares of Cogent Communications from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $67.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $27.00 price target (down from $50.00) on shares of Cogent Communications in a report on Friday. Zacks Research downgraded Cogent Communications from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective (down from $74.00) on shares of Cogent Communications in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $27.00 target price (down previously from $45.00) on shares of Cogent Communications in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $30.33.

Cogent Communications Stock Performance

Shares of CCOI stock traded down $1.46 during trading on Friday, reaching $23.49. The company had a trading volume of 4,105,906 shares, compared to its average volume of 922,815. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $44.58. Cogent Communications has a one year low of $23.20 and a one year high of $85.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 49.06, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 2.31. The company has a market capitalization of $1.16 billion, a PE ratio of -5.17 and a beta of 0.77.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The technology company reported ($0.87) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.15) by $0.28. Cogent Communications had a negative return on equity of 117.56% and a negative net margin of 21.57%.The firm had revenue of $241.95 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $246.13 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($1.33) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Cogent Communications will post -4.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Cogent Communications announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, August 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to reacquire up to 4.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Cogent Communications

In related news, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 2,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 5th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $1,339,038. The trade was a 6.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Sheryl Lynn Kennedy sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.35, for a total value of $72,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 10,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $364,117.95. This trade represents a 16.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 10.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cogent Communications

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CCOI. Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in shares of Cogent Communications in the 1st quarter valued at $417,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Cogent Communications by 2.3% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 210,977 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $12,935,000 after acquiring an additional 4,781 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Cogent Communications by 5.1% in the first quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 14,972 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $918,000 after purchasing an additional 729 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. lifted its stake in Cogent Communications by 9.7% during the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 3,497 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $214,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the period. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its holdings in Cogent Communications by 30.1% during the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 115,223 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,064,000 after purchasing an additional 26,673 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.45% of the company’s stock.

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.