Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Trading 1.6% Higher – Still a Buy?

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)’s stock price rose 1.6% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $65.07 and last traded at $64.87. Approximately 23,689,653 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 31% from the average daily volume of 18,137,774 shares. The stock had previously closed at $63.84.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CSCO shares. BNP Paribas raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $72.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Melius Research upgraded Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.53.

Cisco Systems Stock Up 1.6 %

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $55.64. The company has a market cap of $258.36 billion, a PE ratio of 27.84, a PEG ratio of 4.63 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its quarterly 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 return on equity of 25.70% and a net margin of 17.73%. On average, analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.53%. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.67%.

Cisco Systems announced that its board has initiated a stock 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 repurchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 21,230 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.07, for a total value of $1,211,596.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 213,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,203,506.38. This trade represents a 9.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 586 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,979,515.23. This represents a 1.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 37,239 shares of company stock worth $2,166,612. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cisco Systems

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CSCO. Pflug Koory LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Fairhaven Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Fairhaven Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,581 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $449,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. BlackDiamond Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. BlackDiamond Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,656 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $335,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maple Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Maple Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,984 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $709,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

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.