Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the twenty-two analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, thirteen have issued a hold recommendation, seven have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $55.00.

A number of research firms have commented on CSCO. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $50.00 to $49.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $46.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, August 16th.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CSCO traded up $0.83 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $53.56. The company had a trading volume of 10,583,444 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,244,527. The firm has a market cap of $215.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.75, a PEG ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $49.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $48.30. Cisco Systems has a 52 week low of $44.50 and a 52 week high of $54.58.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.02. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 27.83% and a net margin of 19.18%. The company had revenue of $13.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. Cisco Systems's revenue was down 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Cisco Systems will post 2.9 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 2nd. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.87%.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In related news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 638 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.09, for a total value of $31,319.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 46,017 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,258,974.53. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 638 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.09, for a total value of $31,319.42. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 46,017 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,258,974.53. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 8,270 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.33, for a total transaction of $416,229.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 135,544 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,821,929.52. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 70,529 shares of company stock valued at $3,509,049. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cisco Systems

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Quarry LP lifted its position in Cisco Systems by 222.4% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 661 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 456 shares during the period. West Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 116.6% in the third quarter. West Financial Advisors LLC now owns 574 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the period. Retirement Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 56.8% in the first quarter. Retirement Group LLC now owns 726 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the second quarter worth about $36,000. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.