Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Trading Up 1.7% - Still a Buy?

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report)'s stock price was up 1.7% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $65.67 and last traded at $65.72. Approximately 4,098,549 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 20,054,901 shares. The stock had previously closed at $64.62.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on CSCO. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on Cisco Systems from $63.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cisco Systems has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $68.00.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $260.07 billion, a PE ratio of 28.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $59.52 and a 200-day moving average of $60.27.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $14.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.05 billion. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 26.08% and a net margin of 16.96%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be paid a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio is presently 66.94%.

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 reacquire up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.99, for a total value of $46,474.38. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 44,155 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,693,013.45. This represents a 1.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Oliver Tuszik sold 15,000 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.53, for a total transaction of $952,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 131,676 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,365,376.28. This represents a 10.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 41,616 shares of company stock worth $2,640,095. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CSCO. Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth about $603,000. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 49.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 74,187 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $4,392,000 after buying an additional 24,562 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 37.0% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,156 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $542,000 after buying an additional 2,474 shares during the period. Sargent Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 16.0% in the fourth quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 6,308 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $371,000 after buying an additional 872 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth $220,000. 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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