Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Trading Down 0.8% – Here’s Why

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)’s share price traded down 0.8% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $63.09 and last traded at $63.42. 4,528,971 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 19,674,619 shares. The stock had previously closed at $63.94.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on CSCO shares. Bank of America lifted their price target on Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. DZ Bank raised Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Cisco Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Melius raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.63.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $61.63 and a 200-day moving average of $57.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $246.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.10, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.91 by ($0.14). Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 26.08% and a net margin of 16.96%. Sell-side analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a $0.41 dividend. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is 71.62%.

Cisco Systems declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the network equipment provider to purchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In related news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $2,060,025.03. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 736,120 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,413,489.20. This trade represents a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 586 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.69, for a total value of $34,392.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 50,767 shares in the company, valued at $2,979,515.23. This represents a 1.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 67,348 shares of company stock worth $4,318,181 over the last ninety days. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cisco Systems

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Navigoe LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. JDM Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 160.4% in the 4th quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 487 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Cisco Systems

Cisco Systems, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells Internet Protocol based networking and other products related to the communications and information technology industry in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, Japan, and China. The company also offers switching portfolio encompasses campus switching as well as data center switching; enterprise routing portfolio interconnects public and private wireline and mobile networks, delivering highly secure, and reliable connectivity to campus, data center and branch networks; wireless products include wireless access points and controllers; and compute portfolio including the cisco unified computing system, hyperflex, and software management capabilities, which combine computing, networking, and storage infrastructure management and virtualization.