Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Stock Price Up 1.7% - Here's What Happened

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) shares were up 1.7% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $55.87 and last traded at $55.31. Approximately 9,526,050 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 57% from the average daily volume of 21,969,666 shares. The stock had previously closed at $54.41.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Melius raised Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $66.00 to $73.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Melius Research raised Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Cisco Systems from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $72.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $72.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Cisco Systems from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cisco Systems currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $66.00.

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Cisco Systems Trading Up 1.3 %

The stock has a market cap of $228.08 billion, a PE ratio of 25.04, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.86. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $61.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.01.

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 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%. Equities analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. This is a boost from Cisco Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio is currently 71.62%.

Cisco Systems declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the network equipment provider to purchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total transaction of $125,345.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 191,184 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,604,868.80. This trade represents a 1.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of Cisco Systems 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 directly owns 44,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,693,013.45. The trade was a 1.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 66,547 shares of company stock worth $4,275,553. Insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Cisco Systems

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CSCO. FMR LLC increased its position in Cisco Systems by 20.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 77,216,513 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $4,571,218,000 after buying an additional 13,285,052 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,297,905,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Cisco Systems by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 47,238,258 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $2,796,505,000 after purchasing an additional 4,832,813 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Cisco Systems by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 36,471,275 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $2,159,099,000 after purchasing an additional 2,637,006 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 29,419,041 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $1,741,597,000 after buying an additional 681,555 shares during 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.