Cisco stock making a new surge

EXECUTIVES SELL $149.7 MILLION IN COMPANY SHARES

By Chris O'Brien
Mercury News

Before Google became Silicon Valley's leading source of new millionaires, there was Cisco Systems.
As the San Jose networking company rose to prominence in the 1990s, its use of stock options and its rocketing stock price enriched legions of employees. Alas, the new century has not been as kind, even though it remains the valley's most valuable company by market value.
After plummeting in late 2000 and early 2001, Cisco's stock has bounced around the $20 range for the past five years. It enjoyed a strong run in 2003, topping off at $29.13 per share in January 2004, before stumbling again. Despite fairly steady growth, investors just seemed to shrug.
Since August, though, Cisco's stock has been making another big push, rising from $17.24 on Aug. 4 to $26.84 Friday. Whether it can sustain that momentum remains to be seen.
But insiders aren't waiting to find out. Ten Cisco insiders have sold $149.7 million in Cisco stock since Aug. 16. The $128.46 million sold since Sept. 1 -- the start of Cisco's second quarter -- marks the most quarterly selling at the company over the past five years, according to Thomson Financial. During that time, insiders sold an average of $28 million each quarter.

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