Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 48,430,000 shares, a drop of 7.1% from the September 15th total of 52,150,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 18,520,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days. Approximately 1.2% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CSCO traded up $0.02 during trading on Thursday, reaching $56.40. The company had a trading volume of 18,383,127 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,189,203. The company has a fifty day moving average of $50.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $48.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $227.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 0.83. Cisco Systems has a 12 month low of $44.50 and a 12 month high of $56.58.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.02. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 27.83% and a net margin of 19.18%. The business had revenue of $13.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $13.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.01 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Cisco Systems will post 2.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 2nd. Cisco Systems's payout ratio is currently 53.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Despite investors’ hopes for a rebound in Networking Equipment demand to boost Cisco’s fourth-quarter 2024 performance, the anticipation is tempered by limited indications of a significant recovery in demand. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $53.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $56.74.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cisco Systems news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 27,143 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.45, for a total value of $1,342,221.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 683,403 shares in the company, valued at $33,794,278.35. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Cisco Systems news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 27,143 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.45, for a total value of $1,342,221.35. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 683,403 shares in the company, valued at $33,794,278.35. The trade was a 0.00 % 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, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 3,379 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.36, for a total transaction of $170,166.44. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 47,182 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,376,085.52. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 70,529 shares of company stock worth $3,509,049. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cisco Systems

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CSCO. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Cisco Systems by 2.7% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 70,317,061 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $3,340,764,000 after purchasing an additional 1,853,598 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 47,593,944 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $2,261,185,000 after acquiring an additional 1,530,468 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 22.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 26,409,843 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $1,254,739,000 after acquiring an additional 4,843,146 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Cisco Systems during the 1st quarter worth approximately $840,538,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Cisco Systems by 26.5% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,858,505 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $691,678,000 after purchasing an additional 2,906,357 shares during the period. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by 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.