Wells Fargo & Company Has Lowered Expectations for Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) Stock Price

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) had its target price cut by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $23.00 to $18.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the technology company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target indicates a potential upside of 8.11% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on CCOI. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Cogent Communications from $21.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of Cogent Communications from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $22.00 price objective (down from $23.00) on shares of Cogent Communications in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Cogent Communications from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Cogent Communications from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.40.

Cogent Communications Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CCOI opened at $16.65 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $833.83 million, a PE ratio of -4.69 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.43. Cogent Communications has a fifty-two week low of $14.82 and a fifty-two week high of $54.37.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The technology company reported ($0.83) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.03) by $0.20. The company had revenue of $239.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $241.31 million. Cogent Communications had a negative net margin of 17.53% and a negative return on equity of 842.48%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($1.09) EPS. Research analysts predict that Cogent Communications will post -3.9 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Cogent Communications

In related news, CFO Thaddeus Gerard Weed sold 4,850 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.63, for a total value of $109,755.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 202,750 shares in the company, valued at $4,588,232.50. This trade represents a 2.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Henry W. Kilmer sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.35, for a total value of $56,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 41,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $957,350. This represents a 5.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 12,756 shares of company stock valued at $292,467 in the last 90 days. 4.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cogent Communications

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Cogent Communications by 44.1% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 32,289 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $608,000 after acquiring an additional 9,879 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Cogent Communications by 208.6% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,432 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 968 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Cogent Communications by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 232,206 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,375,000 after acquiring an additional 5,162 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in Cogent Communications by 2,162.5% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 11,109 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $209,000 after acquiring an additional 10,618 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC bought a new position in Cogent Communications during the 1st quarter valued at $341,000. 92.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Cogent Communications

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.