Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Trading Down 0.6% – What’s Next?

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) shares were down 0.6% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $63.56 and last traded at $63.56. Approximately 2,487,177 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 20,327,044 shares. The stock had previously closed at $63.92.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. UBS Group increased their price objective 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. New Street Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Cisco Systems from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Cisco Systems from $61.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.00.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $251.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.60, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The company’s 50-day moving average is $58.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.78.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.04. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 16.96% and a return on equity of 26.08%. The business had revenue of $14.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.05 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.59%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.94%.

Cisco Systems announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total transaction of $125,345.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 191,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,604,868.80. This trade represents a 1.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.99, for a total value of $46,474.38. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 44,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,693,013.45. The trade was a 1.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,635 shares of company stock valued at $931,901 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cisco Systems

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of CSCO. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,297,905,000. FMR LLC raised its stake in Cisco Systems by 20.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 77,216,513 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $4,571,218,000 after buying an additional 13,285,052 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Cisco Systems by 37.4% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 46,973,293 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $2,898,722,000 after buying an additional 12,775,066 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Cisco Systems during the 1st quarter valued at about $750,495,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth $560,722,000. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.