Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Up 0.5% – Here’s What Happened

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) shares traded up 0.5% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $64.71 and last traded at $64.61. 2,710,012 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 19,291,803 shares. The stock had previously closed at $64.27.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CSCO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays increased their price target on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $80.00 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.53.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

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 firm has a market cap of $255.22 billion, a PE ratio of 28.01, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.56.

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 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 research analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.56%. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is 71.62%.

Cisco Systems announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback 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 purchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 3,042 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.19, for a total value of $180,055.98. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 207,798 shares in the company, valued at $12,299,563.62. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 586 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.69, for a total transaction of $34,392.34. Following the completion of 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 trade represents a 1.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 74,848 shares of company stock worth $4,767,206. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cisco Systems

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,297,905,000. FMR LLC boosted its position in Cisco Systems by 20.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 77,216,513 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,571,218,000 after buying an additional 13,285,052 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth about $560,722,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth approximately $413,491,000. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 327.5% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 6,819,000 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $362,907,000 after acquiring an additional 5,223,800 shares in the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.