Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-three ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $65.05.

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Cisco Systems from $73.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Melius Research upgraded Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $72.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $75.00 to $67.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday, March 6th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 19,929 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $1,283,626.89. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 335,605 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,616,318.05. This trade represents a 5.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $2,060,025.03. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 736,120 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,413,489.20. This trade represents a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 66,547 shares of company stock valued at $4,275,553. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cisco Systems

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Advisory Resource Group lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 97,718 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $5,201,000 after buying an additional 1,784 shares during the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in Cisco Systems in the third quarter worth approximately $798,000. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,188 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $542,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. Tudor Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter worth $1,097,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 137,503 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $7,318,000 after purchasing an additional 16,749 shares in the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cisco Systems Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of CSCO traded up $0.13 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $56.84. 23,101,648 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,240,080. Cisco Systems has a 1-year low of $44.50 and a 1-year high of $66.50. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $59.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a market cap of $226.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.82, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.86.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.91 by ($0.14). Cisco Systems had a net margin of 16.96% and a return on equity of 26.08%. Research analysts expect that Cisco Systems will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the network equipment provider to buy up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. This is an increase from Cisco Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio is currently 71.62%.

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.