Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Stock Price Up 1.2% - Should You Buy?

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report)'s share price traded up 1.2% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $58.21 and last traded at $58.01. 2,927,477 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 20,048,014 shares. The stock had previously closed at $57.33.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on CSCO. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $73.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $65.58.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $60.82 and a 200-day moving average of $59.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $221.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.33, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.86.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share 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, analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

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

Cisco Systems declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the network equipment provider to repurchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In related news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 11,808 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total value of $760,080.96. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 200,191 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,886,294.67. This represents a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.99, for a total transaction of $46,474.38. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 44,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,693,013.45. This represents a 1.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,547 shares of company stock worth $4,275,553 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Navigoe LLC purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. JDM Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 160.4% during the fourth 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 shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors own 73.33% of the company's stock.

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.