Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Upgraded by DZ Bank to Buy Rating

DZ Bank upgraded shares of Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Melius Research raised shares of Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $66.53.

Cisco Systems Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of CSCO traded down $0.28 on Tuesday, hitting $64.39. 5,954,504 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,370,520. The company has a market capitalization of $256.18 billion, a PE ratio of 28.15, a P/E/G ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.87. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.01. Cisco Systems has a one year low of $44.50 and a one year high of $66.50.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Cisco Systems will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the network equipment provider to reacquire up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This is a boost from Cisco Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.55%. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 owns 736,120 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $47,413,489.20. The trade was a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 19,929 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $1,283,626.89. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 335,605 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,616,318.05. The trade was a 5.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 67,921 shares of company stock worth $4,298,667. 0.01% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CSCO. Perennial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth about $7,628,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. Forum Financial Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 29.5% during the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 41,168 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $2,437,000 after acquiring an additional 9,380 shares in the last quarter. Griffith & Werner Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $399,000. Finally, Michels Family Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at $936,000. Institutional investors own 73.33% of the company's stock.

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.