Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Stock Price Down 0.8% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) fell 0.8% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $63.09 and last traded at $63.42. 4,528,971 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 19,674,619 shares. The stock had previously closed at $63.94.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on CSCO shares. DZ Bank upgraded Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Cisco Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.63.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $241.36 billion, a PE ratio of 26.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $61.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.87.

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%. Research analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is currently 71.62%.

Cisco Systems announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the network equipment provider to buy up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $2,060,025.03. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 736,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,413,489.20. The trade was a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 3,042 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.19, for a total value of $180,055.98. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 207,798 shares in the company, valued at $12,299,563.62. This trade represents a 1.44 % 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. Insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cisco Systems

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Pflug Koory LLC lifted its stake in Cisco Systems by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Pflug Koory LLC now owns 33,026 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,955,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc grew its position in Cisco Systems by 8.7% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Fairhaven Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. BlackDiamond Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Cisco Systems by 3.1% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,100 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $302,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

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.