Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO – Get Rating) saw a significant decline in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 41,980,000 shares, a decline of 18.5% from the February 28th total of 51,490,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 21,850,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.9 days. Currently, 1.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short.
In other Cisco Systems news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 15,382 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.86, for a total transaction of $828,474.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Maria Martinez sold 992 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.24, for a total value of $54,798.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 20,605 shares of company stock valued at $1,121,147. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Brooks Moore & Associates Inc. lifted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Brooks Moore & Associates Inc. now owns 65,290 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,554,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC lifted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 41,425 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,625,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Autus Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Autus Asset Management LLC now owns 6,898 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $437,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Rockland Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 28,944 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,576,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 19,212 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,217,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. 71.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
A number of research firms have issued reports on CSCO. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Cisco Systems from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 15th. Raymond James lowered their price target on Cisco Systems from $64.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 17th. Barclays upped their target price on Cisco Systems from $61.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 17th. Loop Capital started coverage on Cisco Systems in a research report on Monday, February 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $71.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Cisco Systems from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 10th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.63.
Shares of CSCO stock opened at $55.76 on Friday. Cisco Systems has a 12-month low of $50.10 and a 12-month high of $64.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $231.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $55.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.34.
Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 16th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $12.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.67 billion. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 30.95% and a net margin of 22.94%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.71 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems will post 3.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 5th. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.86%.
Cisco Systems declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 16th that permits the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the network equipment provider to purchase up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.
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. It provides infrastructure platforms, including networking technologies of switching, routing, wireless, and data center products that are designed to work together to deliver networking capabilities, and transport and/or store data.