Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Stock Price Up 6.7% on Strong Earnings

Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) shot up 6.7% during mid-day trading on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock traded as high as $65.56 and last traded at $65.39. 23,734,968 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 16% from the average session volume of 20,423,008 shares. The stock had previously closed at $61.29.

The network equipment provider reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.05. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 16.96% and a return on equity of 26.08%. The company had revenue of $14.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.88 EPS.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.62%.

Cisco Systems declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the network equipment provider to purchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CSCO. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $61.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.00.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In related news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 11,808 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total transaction of $760,080.96. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 200,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,886,294.67. This represents a 5.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.99, for a total transaction of $46,474.38. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 44,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,693,013.45. This represents a 1.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 14,635 shares of company stock valued at $931,901. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cisco Systems

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CSCO. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,297,905,000. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 20.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 77,216,513 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,571,218,000 after purchasing an additional 13,285,052 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 37.4% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 46,973,293 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $2,898,722,000 after acquiring an additional 12,775,066 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 1st quarter worth approximately $750,495,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth approximately $560,722,000. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $58.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $253.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.89.

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.