Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Up 0% – Here’s Why

Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) shot up 0% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $60.98 and last traded at $60.52. 2,606,155 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 19,773,346 shares. The stock had previously closed at $60.50.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on CSCO. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Rosenblatt Securities raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Melius Research raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Citigroup reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.63.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $61.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $57.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a market capitalization of $239.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.33, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by ($0.14). Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 26.08% and a net margin of 16.96%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.62%.

Cisco Systems announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the network equipment provider to buy up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total transaction of $125,345.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 191,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,604,868.80. This trade represents a 1.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 19,929 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $1,283,626.89. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 335,605 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,616,318.05. The trade was a 5.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 66,547 shares of company stock valued at $4,275,553. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cisco Systems

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CSCO. Pflug Koory LLC lifted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Pflug Koory LLC now owns 33,026 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,955,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 2,070 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $123,000 after buying an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Fairhaven Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Fairhaven Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,581 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $449,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. BlackDiamond Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. BlackDiamond Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,656 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $335,000 after buying an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,100 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $302,000 after buying an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Company Profile

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.