Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Down 3.5% - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Cisco Systems' shares fell 3.5% to $66.88 on Friday, with trading volume down 50% compared to the average session.
• Investment analysts have given Cisco an average rating of "Moderate Buy" with a consensus price target of $73.45, despite a recent downgrade by Wall Street Zen.
• The company reported $14.67 billion in revenue for the last quarter, up 7.6% year-over-year, and beat earnings per share estimates by $0.01.

Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) fell 3.5% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $67.07 and last traded at $66.88. 10,729,285 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 50% from the average session volume of 21,443,924 shares. The stock had previously closed at $69.30.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CSCO. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th. CICC Research initiated coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Monday, July 14th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $78.00 price target on the stock. New Street Research reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $65.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Cisco Systems presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $73.45.

Cisco Systems Trading Down 4.6%

The business has a fifty day moving average price of $67.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The company has a market capitalization of $261.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.91.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 13th. The network equipment provider reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.01. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 27.24% and a net margin of 18.45%. The business had revenue of $14.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.63 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.87 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 3rd will be paid a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 3rd. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cisco Systems news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 29,784 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.61, for a total value of $1,924,344.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 688,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,478,105.49. The trade was a 4.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 8,726 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.54, for a total value of $571,902.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 174,669 shares in the company, valued at $11,447,806.26. This represents a 4.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 77,731 shares of company stock worth $5,021,519. 0.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cisco Systems

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Postrock Partners LLC grew its holdings in Cisco Systems by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Postrock Partners LLC now owns 3,480 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $241,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD now owns 41,379 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $2,871,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Lion Street Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Lion Street Advisors LLC now owns 20,694 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $1,436,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Boyd Watterson Asset Management LLC OH lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Boyd Watterson Asset Management LLC OH now owns 10,445 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $725,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cordatus Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Cisco Systems by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Cordatus Wealth Management LLC now owns 36,370 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $2,523,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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