Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Stock Price Down 0.1% – What’s Next?

Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) traded down 0.1% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $62.80 and last traded at $63.20. 3,135,268 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 19,642,982 shares. The stock had previously closed at $63.26.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on CSCO shares. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Cisco Systems from $57.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Cisco Systems from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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, February 13th. Seven research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.63.

Cisco Systems Stock Up 1.2 %

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $57.16. 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 has a market capitalization of $254.61 billion, a PE ratio of 27.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.84.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its quarterly 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.56%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.62%.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 3,042 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 207,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,299,563.62. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kristina M. Johnson sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.87, for a total value of $449,025.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 65,915 shares in the company, valued at $3,946,331.05. This trade represents a 10.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 74,848 shares of company stock worth $4,767,206. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cisco Systems

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