Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 40,970,000 shares, a decline of 28.8% from the May 15th total of 57,510,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 22,780,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.8 days. Approximately 1.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

Shares of CSCO traded up $0.51 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $65.84. The company had a trading volume of 22,661,981 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,178,978. Cisco Systems has a twelve month low of $44.50 and a twelve month high of $66.50. 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's 50-day moving average is $60.86 and its 200-day moving average is $60.66. The company has a market capitalization of $260.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.88.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.04. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 26.48% and a net margin of 17.60%. The business had revenue of $14.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. Cisco Systems's quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.49%. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In other news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 29,784 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.61, for a total transaction of $1,924,344.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 688,409 shares in the company, valued at $44,478,105.49. This represents a 4.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 9,643 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.50, for a total value of $612,330.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 181,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,505,311. This represents a 5.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 72,931 shares of company stock valued at $4,671,930 over the last 90 days. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cisco Systems

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Cisco Systems by 39.0% in the 1st quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 8,422,911 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $519,778,000 after buying an additional 2,365,389 shares during the last quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. boosted its position in Cisco Systems by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 18,820 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $1,161,000 after buying an additional 1,273 shares during the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc lifted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 298.3% in the 1st quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc now owns 709 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 531 shares during the period. Birchbrook Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Birchbrook Inc. now owns 2,964 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $183,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Planning Services Inc. LA ADV lifted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Asset Planning Services Inc. LA ADV now owns 108,752 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $6,711,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on CSCO. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Cisco Systems from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on Cisco Systems from $63.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen raised Cisco Systems from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Cisco Systems from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $69.11.

Cisco Systems Company Profile

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.