Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-two ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $56.74.

Several research analysts recently commented on CSCO shares. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Barclays cut their price objective on Cisco Systems from $50.00 to $49.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $52.00 target price on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $52.00 to $62.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 3,379 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.36, for a total transaction of $170,166.44. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 47,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,376,085.52. This trade represents a 0.00 % 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. In related news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 3,379 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.36, for a total transaction of $170,166.44. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 47,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,376,085.52. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 27,143 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.45, for a total transaction of $1,342,221.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 683,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,794,278.35. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 70,529 shares of company stock worth $3,509,049 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cisco Systems

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Quarry LP raised its stake in Cisco Systems by 222.4% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 661 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 456 shares in the last quarter. West Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Cisco Systems during the second quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Cisco Systems by 617.7% during the second quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 890 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 766 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

NASDAQ CSCO opened at $55.50 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $52.63 and its 200-day moving average is $49.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a market capitalization of $221.49 billion, a PE ratio of 21.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.61 and a beta of 0.83. Cisco Systems has a 12-month low of $44.50 and a 12-month high of $57.06.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.02. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 19.18% and a return on equity of 27.83%. The firm had revenue of $13.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.01 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 2nd were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 2nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.99%.

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.