Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Short Interest Down 13.7% in March
by Tristan Rich · The Markets DailyCisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO – Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 56,186,651 shares, a decrease of 13.7% from the March 15th total of 65,121,716 shares. Currently, 1.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 26,437,256 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.1 days.
Cisco Systems Stock Up 2.1%
CSCO stock opened at $86.25 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $79.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.67. The company has a market capitalization of $340.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.83. Cisco Systems has a 52 week low of $53.83 and a 52 week high of $88.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.
Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The network equipment provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.02. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 19.22% and a return on equity of 27.88%. The business had revenue of $15.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.94 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Cisco Systems will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Cisco Systems Increases Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is 58.95%.
Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems
In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Oliver Tuszik sold 3,132 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.74, for a total value of $249,745.68. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 188,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,040,000.62. This trade represents a 1.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 19,545 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.00, for a total transaction of $1,485,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 671,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,003,220. This trade represents a 2.83% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 46,431 shares of company stock valued at $3,574,820 over the last three months. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Institutional Trading of Cisco Systems
Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Cisco Systems by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 398,943,293 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $30,730,602,000 after acquiring an additional 4,049,893 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 195,521,161 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $15,060,995,000 after purchasing an additional 1,057,962 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 75,326,258 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,802,382,000 after acquiring an additional 206,352 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 59,836,782 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $4,609,227,000 after acquiring an additional 6,224,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth $4,473,272,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several research analysts have commented on CSCO shares. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. BNP Paribas Exane increased their price objective on Cisco Systems from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Evercore upgraded Cisco Systems from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $80.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.81.
Read Our Latest Research Report on CSCO
Cisco Systems Company Profile
Cisco Systems, Inc is a global technology company that designs, manufactures and sells networking hardware, software and telecommunications equipment. Its core business focuses on enabling enterprise and service-provider networks through products such as routers, switches, network security appliances and wireless systems. Over time Cisco has broadened its portfolio to emphasize software-defined networking, cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure and edge computing solutions that help organizations build and manage modern IT environments.
In addition to hardware, Cisco offers a growing range of software platforms and subscription services for network management, security, analytics and collaboration.