Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report)'s share price rose 0.2% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $64.75 and last traded at $64.70. Approximately 2,849,340 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 19,574,295 shares. The stock had previously closed at $64.59.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several brokerages have commented on CSCO. StockNews.com upgraded Cisco Systems from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Melius Research raised Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays increased their target price on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Melius raised Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $73.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $66.53.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on CSCO
Cisco Systems Trading Down 0.9 %
The company has a market cap of $254.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.98, a PEG ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.84. 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 firm's 50 day moving average is $60.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.01.
Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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, equities research analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.
Cisco Systems Increases Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.56%. 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. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.62%.
Cisco Systems declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the network equipment provider to repurchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, Director Kristina M. Johnson sold 7,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,946,331.05. The trade was a 10.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 586 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was 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 directly owns 50,767 shares in the company, 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 ninety days, insiders sold 67,921 shares of company stock valued at $4,298,667. Insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cisco Systems
Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Navigoe LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. JDM Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 160.4% in the fourth quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 487 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company's stock.
About Cisco Systems
(
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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.
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