Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Buy

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Thursday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Melius Research reissued a hold rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Monday, January 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Cisco Systems from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Cisco Systems from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Friday, April 12th. They issued a neutral rating and a $52.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $55.53.

Cisco Systems Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ CSCO traded up $0.33 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $47.12. The stock had a trading volume of 17,935,302 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,219,910. The business’s 50 day moving average is $48.79 and its 200-day moving average is $49.83. Cisco Systems has a 52 week low of $45.56 and a 52 week high of $58.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market cap of $190.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.32, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.87.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $12.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.71 billion. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 33.01% and a net margin of 23.49%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.76 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Cisco Systems will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 4th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is 48.63%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 3,002 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.01, for a total value of $150,130.02. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 191,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,579,865.59. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Cisco Systems news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 2,497 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $124,850.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 58,121 shares in the company, valued at $2,906,050. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 3,002 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.01, for a total transaction of $150,130.02. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 191,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,579,865.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 19,441 shares of company stock valued at $972,080. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cisco Systems

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hemington Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 13.7% in the first quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 6,346 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $317,000 after purchasing an additional 764 shares during the period. SPC Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 58,873 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $2,938,000 after buying an additional 2,029 shares during the period. 9258 Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 51,633 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $2,577,000 after buying an additional 987 shares in the last quarter. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 5.4% during the first quarter. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 161,026 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $8,037,000 after buying an additional 8,251 shares during the period. Finally, Carson Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 4.6% in the first quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. now owns 5,929 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $296,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

About Cisco Systems

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.