Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Stock Price Up 0.3% - What's Next?

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report)'s share price rose 0.3% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $57.91 and last traded at $57.56. Approximately 2,606,355 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 20,029,358 shares. The stock had previously closed at $57.41.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on CSCO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Cisco Systems from $73.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Barclays reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Cisco Systems from $72.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $65.58.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

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 business's 50 day moving average price is $60.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.08. The company has a market cap of $221.69 billion, a PE ratio of 24.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.86.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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, analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. Cisco Systems's payout ratio is presently 71.62%.

Cisco Systems declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the network equipment provider to reacquire up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 19,929 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $1,283,626.89. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 335,605 shares in the company, valued at $21,616,318.05. This trade represents a 5.61 % 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, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the business's 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 in the company, valued at approximately $47,413,489.20. This trade represents a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 66,547 shares of company stock worth $4,275,553 in the last three months. 0.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cisco Systems

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pflug Koory LLC increased its stake in Cisco Systems by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Pflug Koory LLC now owns 33,026 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $1,955,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the period. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc increased its stake 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 worth $123,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Fairhaven Wealth Management LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $449,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. BlackDiamond Wealth Management LLC grew its stake 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.