Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Down 1.3% - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• Shares of Cisco Systems fell by 1.3% on Thursday, closing at $69.50, with a total trading volume down 12% from the average.
• Cisco recently reported earnings of $0.99 EPS, beating expectations, with revenues of $14.67 billion, marking a year-over-year increase of 7.6%.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.41 per share to be paid on October 22nd, reflecting an annual yield of 2.4%.

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report)'s stock price was down 1.3% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $67.48 and last traded at $69.50. Approximately 18,791,878 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 12% from the average daily volume of 21,384,902 shares. The stock had previously closed at $70.40.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on CSCO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Cisco Systems from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $87.00 price objective on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday. CICC Research started coverage on Cisco Systems in a research note on Monday, July 14th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $78.00 price target for the company. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Cisco Systems from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $74.53.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $265.12 billion, a PE ratio of 25.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The stock's fifty day moving average is $67.98 and its 200-day moving average is $63.38.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 13th. The network equipment provider reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.01. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 18.45% and a return on equity of 27.02%. The business had revenue of $14.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.63 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.87 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 3rd. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.60%.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In related news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 2,407 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.01, for a total value of $154,072.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 177,027 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,331,498.27. This represents a 1.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jeetendra I. Patel sold 899 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.27, for a total transaction of $57,778.73. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 255,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,413,079.79. This trade represents a 0.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 77,731 shares of company stock worth $5,021,519 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Cisco Systems

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS boosted its stake in Cisco Systems by 0.7% during the first quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 892,064 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $55,049,000 after buying an additional 6,501 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 10.8% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,298 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $389,000 after purchasing an additional 612 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Cisco Systems by 28.9% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,037,909 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $249,180,000 after purchasing an additional 904,548 shares during the last quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario raised its stake in Cisco Systems by 44.6% during the fourth quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 193,478 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $11,454,000 after purchasing an additional 59,680 shares during the period. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc grew its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 111,510 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $6,882,000 after buying an additional 2,839 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.