Cisco Systems Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:CSCO)

04 Apr 2025, 08:02 by Kim Johansen · The Markets Daily

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO – Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders bought 87,660 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 81% compared to the average volume of 48,335 call options.

Cisco Systems Trading Down 7.3 %

CSCO stock opened at $57.31 on Friday. Cisco Systems has a 52 week low of $44.50 and a 52 week high of $66.50. The company has a market capitalization of $228.00 billion, a PE ratio of 25.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $62.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by ($0.14). Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 26.08% and a net margin of 16.96%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the network equipment provider to repurchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is 71.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CSCO. DZ Bank raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price 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. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.63.

Check Out Our Latest Report on CSCO

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In other news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $2,060,025.03. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 736,120 shares in the company, valued at $47,413,489.20. The trade was a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total value of $125,345.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 191,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,604,868.80. This represents a 1.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 66,547 shares of company stock valued at $4,275,553. 0.01% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cisco Systems

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Navigoe LLC acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. JDM Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 160.4% during the fourth quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 487 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

About Cisco Systems

(Get Free Report)

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.