Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Down 1.3% – Time to Sell?

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)’s share price fell 1.3% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $63.25 and last traded at $63.41. 9,244,459 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 55% from the average session volume of 20,447,970 shares. The stock had previously closed at $64.26.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. DZ Bank upgraded Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Cisco Systems from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $72.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.00.

Cisco Systems Stock Down 1.0%

The stock has a market capitalization of $253.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.78, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a fifty day moving average of $58.75 and a 200 day moving average of $59.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.05. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 26.08% and a net margin of 16.96%. The firm had revenue of $14.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.62%.

Cisco Systems declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the network equipment provider to repurchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.99, for a total value of $46,474.38. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 44,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,693,013.45. The trade was a 1.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 11,808 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total value of $760,080.96. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 200,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,886,294.67. The trade was a 5.57% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 14,635 shares of company stock worth $931,901. Insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cisco Systems

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Navigoe LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. JDM Financial Group LLC increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of 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

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.