JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) Price Target to $76.00

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) had its target price upped by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $70.00 to $76.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the technology company’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on CCOI. KeyCorp reduced their target price on Cogent Communications from $88.00 to $80.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and set a $74.00 price objective on shares of Cogent Communications in a research report on Monday, July 29th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cogent Communications from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Cogent Communications from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Cogent Communications from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cogent Communications presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $75.86.

Cogent Communications Stock Up 1.7 %

CCOI stock opened at $73.50 on Monday. Cogent Communications has a one year low of $50.80 and a one year high of $86.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.80, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $61.29 and its 200 day moving average is $64.82. The firm has a market cap of $3.60 billion, a PE ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.41.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The technology company reported ($0.68) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.27) by $0.59. The firm had revenue of $260.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $264.32 million. Cogent Communications had a negative return on equity of 24.63% and a net margin of 114.09%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.13) EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Cogent Communications will post -4.81 EPS for the current year.

Cogent Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.985 per share. This is a boost from Cogent Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $3.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.36%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. Cogent Communications’s payout ratio is currently 15.61%.

Insider Activity at Cogent Communications

In other Cogent Communications news, CFO Thaddeus Gerard Weed sold 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.60, for a total value of $126,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 93,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,907,580. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Lewis H. Ferguson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.90, for a total value of $117,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,623 shares in the company, valued at $1,037,994.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Thaddeus Gerard Weed sold 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.60, for a total value of $126,240.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 93,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,907,580. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 128,440 shares of company stock valued at $6,856,016. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cogent Communications

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Cogent Communications by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 218,174 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $16,594,000 after purchasing an additional 24,185 shares during the last quarter. PEAK6 Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Cogent Communications by 175.1% in the fourth quarter. PEAK6 Investments LLC now owns 37,599 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,860,000 after buying an additional 23,934 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Cogent Communications in the 1st quarter valued at $27,942,000. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Cogent Communications by 46.6% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 828,664 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $63,028,000 after acquiring an additional 263,276 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Cogent Communications by 327.7% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 981,623 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $64,129,000 after acquiring an additional 752,133 shares during the period. 92.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.