Options traders are still buying protection on Cisco Systems. Short sellers are still leaving. The two trends have been running in parallel for two weeks now — and they still point in opposite directions.
The put-call ratio stood at 0.80 on September 1. That's 1.35 standard deviations above the 20-day mean of 0.76. It has eased from the 0.82 peak seen on August 31, but remains elevated relative to the range of the past month.
The 52-week PCR spans 0.63 to 1.04. The current reading sits in the upper third. That's not panic — but it's consistent hedging demand from holders sitting on a 43% year-to-date gain.
The borrow market tells a very different story. Availability is effectively unlimited. Over 3.3 billion shares sit in the lending pool. SI stands at roughly 59 million shares. There is no constraint here. The put buying is not being driven by short sellers — it's coming from longs protecting positions.
Short interest fell another 11.6% over the past week to 1.50% of free float. That continues the trend noted in the previous article. SI is now at its lowest since late July. The week prior saw a 12.2% weekly decline. The direction is consistent.
At 1.5% of float, short interest is low in absolute terms. It is not a primary driver of the stock's story. But the sustained covering does remove a potential headwind.
Deutsche Bank initiated with a Buy and a $135 target on September 1. That call was the headline of the prior convergence report. The consensus has not shifted since — 14 analysts carry Buy ratings, with a mean target of $137.63.
The stock closed at $109.74 on September 1, down 0.7% on the day and 1.2% on the week. Against the mean target, that implies roughly 25% upside. Wells Fargo sits at $150. Rosenblatt at $165. HSBC remains the outlier at $120 with a Hold.
The EPS momentum factor score is in the 92nd percentile over 30 days — the strongest single factor in the snapshot. The dividend score ranks in the 98th percentile.
Next earnings: November 11. The August print knocked the stock 5.8% on the day.
See the live data behind this article on ORTEX.
Open CSCO on ORTEX →ORTEX Market Intelligence content is generated by AI from a snapshot of ORTEX's proprietary data. Content is informational only and does not constitute investment advice.
