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

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) saw some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Investors bought 245,742 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 443% compared to the average volume of 45,258 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 171,744 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.49, for a total transaction of $9,873,562.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 783,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,059,857.14. This trade represents a 17.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 86,351 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.49, for a total transaction of $4,964,318.99. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 365,314 shares in the company, valued at $21,001,901.86. This represents a 19.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 353,522 shares of company stock worth $20,349,721. 0.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cisco Systems

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,931,461 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $3,402,432,000 after buying an additional 5,885,879 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its holdings in Cisco Systems by 327.5% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 6,819,000 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $362,907,000 after acquiring an additional 5,223,800 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 22.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 26,409,843 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,254,739,000 after acquiring an additional 4,843,146 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 5,231.5% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 4,935,107 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $262,646,000 after purchasing an additional 4,842,542 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 79.6% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 8,971,494 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $477,463,000 after purchasing an additional 3,975,028 shares during the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

Shares of Cisco Systems stock traded down $0.28 during trading on Thursday, hitting $58.92. 9,225,739 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,212,635. Cisco Systems has a twelve month low of $44.50 and a twelve month high of $60.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $234.66 billion, a PE ratio of 25.29, a PEG ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 0.85. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $58.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.53.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 13th. The network equipment provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.04. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 25.70% and a net margin of 17.73%. The firm had revenue of $13.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.78 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Cisco Systems will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CSCO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Cisco Systems from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Cisco Systems from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.28.

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.