Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Stock Price Down 2.7% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) fell 2.7% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $79.40 and last traded at $79.92. 19,986,896 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 17% from the average session volume of 24,156,725 shares. The stock had previously closed at $82.16.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. CICC Research lifted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $84.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. DZ Bank raised Cisco Systems to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane increased their price target on Cisco Systems from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.55.

Cisco Systems Stock Down 2.7%

The stock has a market capitalization of $315.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $78.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.30.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The network equipment provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $15.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.11 billion. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 19.22% and a return on equity of 27.88%. The company’s revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.94 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.42 dividend. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 2nd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.54%.

Insider Activity

In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 1,744 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.07, for a total transaction of $134,410.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 156,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,076,329.51. This trade represents a 1.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Oliver Tuszik sold 3,132 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 188,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,040,000.62. The trade was a 1.63% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 46,431 shares of company stock valued at $3,574,820 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cisco Systems

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CSCO. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 398,943,293 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $30,730,602,000 after buying an additional 4,049,893 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew 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 buying an additional 1,057,962 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew 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 buying an additional 206,352 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Cisco Systems by 11.6% during the fourth 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 during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth about $4,473,272,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

About Cisco Systems

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.