Traders Buy Large Volume of Cisco Systems Call Options (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Traders bought 62,314 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 18% compared to the average daily volume of 52,983 call options.

Cisco Systems Stock Up 1.1 %

CSCO stock traded up $0.70 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $63.23. 20,313,118 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,098,609. Cisco Systems has a 1-year low of $44.50 and a 1-year high of $66.50. The company has a market cap of $251.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.63 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.88. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $59.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.36.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by ($0.14). Cisco Systems had a net margin of 17.73% and a return on equity of 25.70%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Cisco Systems will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.59%. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is 68.67%.

Cisco Systems announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the network equipment provider to buy up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cisco Systems news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 4,881 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.73, for a total transaction of $291,542.13. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 51,931 shares in the company, valued at $3,101,838.63. This represents a 8.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 21,230 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.07, for a total transaction of $1,211,596.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 213,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,203,506.38. The trade was a 9.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 353,522 shares of company stock valued at $20,349,721 over the last three months. 0.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pflug Koory LLC raised its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Pflug Koory LLC now owns 33,026 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,955,000 after buying an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Fairhaven Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Cisco Systems by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Fairhaven Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,581 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $449,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. BlackDiamond Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. BlackDiamond Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,656 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $335,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the period. Maple Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Maple Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,984 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $709,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Pathway Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,791 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. 73.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CSCO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com upgraded Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Cisco Systems from $57.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. BNP Paribas raised Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $72.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.56.

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.