Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Stock Price Up 1.6% Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) traded up 1.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $71.00 to $73.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Cisco Systems traded as high as $65.20 and last traded at $65.10. 4,185,715 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 19,164,740 shares. The stock had previously closed at $64.08.

Several other analysts have also commented on the company. Rosenblatt Securities raised Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $57.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, DZ Bank raised Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 19,929 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $1,283,626.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 335,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,616,318.05. This trade represents a 5.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $2,060,025.03. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 736,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,413,489.20. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 74,848 shares of company stock valued at $4,767,206 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cisco Systems

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $232,307,000. Brucke Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth approximately $300,000. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV grew its holdings in Cisco Systems by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 41,100 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,433,000 after buying an additional 1,584 shares in the last quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth $209,000. Finally, REAP Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 36.1% during the 4th quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 1,093 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $252.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.71, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.84. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $61.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted its quarterly 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 16.96% and a return on equity of 26.08%. On average, analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.59%. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.62%.

Cisco Systems declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the network equipment provider to purchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.