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

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

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. They set a neutral rating and a $53.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Cisco Systems from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. They set an equal weight rating and a $52.00 price objective for the company. Melius cut Cisco Systems from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $55.53.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of CSCO traded up $0.33 during mid-day 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. Cisco Systems has a fifty-two week low of $45.56 and a fifty-two 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 PE ratio of 14.32, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.87. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $48.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $49.83.

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

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In other news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 13,942 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $697,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 328,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,424,550. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 13,942 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $697,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 328,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,424,550. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 3,002 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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. Insiders have sold 19,441 shares of company stock valued at $972,080 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cisco Systems

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Waddell & Associates LLC raised its holdings in Cisco Systems by 0.8% during the third quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 24,693 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,328,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Cisco Systems by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,686 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $306,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Cisco Systems by 19.3% during the 3rd quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Mcintyre Freedman & Flynn Investment Advisers Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Mcintyre Freedman & Flynn Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 59,756 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $3,019,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hyman Charles D lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Hyman Charles D now owns 70,727 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,573,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.