Cisco Systems Sees Large Drop in Short Interest (CSCO)

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) saw a significant drop in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 51,969,594 shares, a drop of 4.0% from the September 30th total of 54,140,574 shares, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 24,564,679 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.1 days. Approximately 1.0% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) opened at 28.77 on Tuesday. Cisco Systems has a 52 week low of $23.03 and a 52 week high of $30.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $145.61 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.44. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $27.24 and a 200 day moving average of $27.89.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $12.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.66 billion. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.55 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems will post $2.30 EPS for the current year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 5th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 1st.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CSCO. Goldman Sachs reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $36.00 price objective on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Macquarie reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, August 13th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $34.00 price objective (up previously from $33.00) on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Citigroup Inc. began coverage on Cisco Systems in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $30.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Vetr lowered Cisco Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $31.61 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and twenty-three have issued a buy rating to the stock. The company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.37.

In other news, Director Roderick C. Mcgeary sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.65, for a total transaction of $429,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 117,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,366,117.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Pankaj Patel sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.02, for a total transaction of $780,600.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 574,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,935,974.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Cisco System, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) designs, produces, and sells Internet protocol (IP)-based networking products and services related to the communications and information technology (IT) sector. The Company also supplies services and products for transporting data, voice, and video traffic across the Internet, extranets, and also intranets and also supplies services associated with these products and their use. The Company’s company operates in three segments: the Americas; Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), and Asia Pacific, Japan, and China (APJC). The Company groups its products and technologies into the following types: Switching, Next-Generation Network (NGN) Routing, Service Provider Video, Collaboration, Data Center, Wireless, Security, as well as Other Products. These products, chiefly integrated by Cisco IOS Software, link geographically dispersed local-area networks (LANs), metropolitan-area networks (MANs), and wide-area networks (WANs).

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