Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Stock Price Up 0.2% – Here’s What Happened

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)’s share price rose 0.2% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $64.88 and last traded at $64.27. Approximately 3,186,221 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 19,470,762 shares. The stock had previously closed at $64.11.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Cisco Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 22nd. Citigroup increased their target price on Cisco Systems from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $57.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.63.

Cisco Systems Stock Down 1.0 %

The company has a market capitalization of $252.54 billion, a PE ratio of 27.72, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.84. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $61.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 16.96% and a return on equity of 26.08%. As a group, 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 an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.62%.

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

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In related news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 586 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.69, for a total transaction of $34,392.34. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 50,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,979,515.23. This represents a 1.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 11,808 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total transaction of $760,080.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 200,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,886,294.67. This represents a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 74,848 shares of company stock worth $4,767,206. 0.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cisco Systems

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pflug Koory LLC grew 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 buying an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc boosted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 2,070 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $123,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the period. Fairhaven Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in 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 valued at $449,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. BlackDiamond Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Cisco Systems by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. BlackDiamond Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,656 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $335,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the period. Finally, Legacy Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Cisco Systems by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,100 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.