Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Given New $73.00 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) had its price target boosted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $69.00 to $73.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the network equipment provider’s stock.

CSCO has been the topic of several other research reports. StockNews.com raised Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $72.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.53.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

Shares of CSCO opened at $63.84 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Cisco Systems has a 1-year low of $44.50 and a 1-year high of $66.50. The stock has a market cap of $254.26 billion, a PE ratio of 27.40, a P/E/G ratio of 4.63 and a beta of 0.84.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.91 by ($0.14). Cisco Systems had a net margin of 17.73% and a return on equity of 25.70%. As a group, analysts forecast that Cisco Systems will post 2.97 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the network equipment provider to reacquire up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.57%. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is presently 68.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 21,230 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.07, for a total value of $1,211,596.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 213,834 shares in the company, valued at $12,203,506.38. This trade represents a 9.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kristina M. Johnson sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.87, for a total value of $449,025.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 65,915 shares in the company, valued at $3,946,331.05. The trade was a 10.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 37,239 shares of company stock valued at $2,166,612. Insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cisco Systems

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CSCO. Pflug Koory LLC grew its holdings in Cisco Systems by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Pflug Koory LLC now owns 33,026 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,955,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc raised its stake in Cisco Systems by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 2,070 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $123,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Fairhaven Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Fairhaven Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,581 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $449,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. BlackDiamond Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. BlackDiamond Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,656 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $335,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the period. Finally, Maple Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Maple Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,984 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $709,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.