Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 56,150,000 shares, an increase of 17.6% from the June 30th total of 47,750,000 shares. Currently, 1.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 19,720,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on CSCO shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Monday, June 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $53.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $50.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, May 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.47.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In other news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 2,619 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.34, for a total value of $118,745.46. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 176,384 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,997,250.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 2,619 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.34, for a total value of $118,745.46. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 176,384 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,997,250.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.42, for a total transaction of $34,610.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 51,788 shares in the company, valued at $2,352,210.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 41,106 shares of company stock valued at $1,908,923. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cisco Systems

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 1,666.7% during the 4th quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 636 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 41.9% during the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 704 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bourgeon Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 3,500.0% during the 4th quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 720 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of Cisco Systems stock opened at $48.14 on Wednesday. Cisco Systems has a 52-week low of $44.95 and a 52-week high of $58.19. The company has a 50 day moving average of $46.77 and a 200 day moving average of $48.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The company has a market capitalization of $193.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.85.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 15th. The network equipment provider reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.18. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 21.88% and a return on equity of 30.82%. The company had revenue of $12.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Cisco Systems will post 3.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 5th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 5th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.32%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.87%.

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.