Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Stock Price Down 0.3% – Here’s Why

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)’s stock price traded down 0.3% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $62.19 and last traded at $63.24. 4,166,887 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 19,627,096 shares. The stock had previously closed at $63.41.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on CSCO shares. Melius raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.63.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 0.8 %

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 stock has a market capitalization of $254.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.92, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $61.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $57.39.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.56%. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.62%.

Cisco Systems announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the network equipment provider to purchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 11,808 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total value of $760,080.96. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 200,191 shares in the company, valued at $12,886,294.67. The trade was a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 586 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 50,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,979,515.23. The trade was a 1.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 67,348 shares of company stock valued at $4,318,181. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Navigoe LLC purchased a new position in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. JDM Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 160.4% during the 4th quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 487 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 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.