Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Trading Down 0.8% – Should You Sell?

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)’s share price traded down 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 were traded 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CSCO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their target price on Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Melius Research raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Melius upgraded Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.63.

Cisco Systems Stock Down 2.2 %

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’s 50-day simple moving average is $61.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.60. The firm has a market cap of $241.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.49, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced 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 net margin of 16.96% and a return on equity of 26.08%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.62%.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 736,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,413,489.20. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.69, for a total value 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 $2,979,515.23. This trade represents a 1.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 67,348 shares of company stock worth $4,318,181. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Pflug Koory LLC boosted its stake in Cisco Systems by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Pflug Koory LLC now owns 33,026 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,955,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 2,070 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $123,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Fairhaven Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Cisco Systems by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Fairhaven Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,581 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $449,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. BlackDiamond Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Cisco Systems by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. BlackDiamond Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,656 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $335,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Cisco Systems by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,100 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $302,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is owned by 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.