Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Receives $59.94 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-one brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $59.94.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Cisco Systems from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Cisco Systems from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 15th.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of CSCO stock opened at $59.43 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $236.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.51, a PEG ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.83. Cisco Systems has a 52-week low of $44.50 and a 52-week high of $59.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company’s 50 day moving average is $55.83 and its 200 day moving average is $50.54.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 13th. The network equipment provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.04. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 25.70% and a net margin of 17.73%. The business had revenue of $13.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.78 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.67%.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In other news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 1,328 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.92, for a total value of $64,965.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 132,910 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,501,957.20. This represents a 0.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 4,881 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.73, for a total transaction of $291,542.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 51,931 shares in the company, valued at $3,101,838.63. This trade represents a 8.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 344,360 shares of company stock valued at $19,782,533 over the last quarter. 0.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cisco Systems

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC raised its position in Cisco Systems by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,931,461 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,402,432,000 after purchasing an additional 5,885,879 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 327.5% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 6,819,000 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $362,907,000 after buying an additional 5,223,800 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 22.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 26,409,843 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,254,739,000 after buying an additional 4,843,146 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 5,231.5% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 4,935,107 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $262,646,000 after buying an additional 4,842,542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in Cisco Systems by 79.6% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 8,971,494 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $477,463,000 after acquiring an additional 3,975,028 shares during the period. 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.