Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-three brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, fourteen have issued a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $65.05.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. 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 note on Thursday, February 13th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Cisco Systems from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $72.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Melius Research raised Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Melius upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th.

Cisco Systems Stock Up 0.9 %

CSCO traded up $0.51 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $58.24. 2,546,751 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,184,165. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $59.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.26. The company has a market cap of $231.69 billion, a PE ratio of 25.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.86. Cisco Systems has a one year low of $44.50 and a one year high of $66.50.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were issued a $0.41 dividend. This is a boost from Cisco Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.62%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total value of $125,345.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 191,184 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,604,868.80. This represents a 1.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.99, for a total transaction of $46,474.38. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 44,155 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,693,013.45. The trade was a 1.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,547 shares of company stock valued at $4,275,553 in the last 90 days. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cisco Systems

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CSCO. Advisory Resource Group increased its position in Cisco Systems by 1.9% during the third quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 97,718 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $5,201,000 after acquiring an additional 1,784 shares during the period. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter worth $798,000. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,188 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $542,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares during the period. Tudor Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter worth $1,097,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Cisco Systems by 13.9% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 137,503 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $7,318,000 after purchasing an additional 16,749 shares in the last quarter. 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.