Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) has received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-two analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $68.00.

Several research analysts recently weighed in on CSCO shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $63.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Cisco Systems from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $72.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Wednesday.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

Shares of CSCO opened at $63.20 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $251.43 billion, a PE ratio of 27.60, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.83. Cisco Systems has a 1-year low of $44.50 and a 1-year high of $66.50.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $14.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.05 billion. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 16.96% and a return on equity of 26.08%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.59%. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio is presently 66.94%.

Cisco Systems announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the network equipment provider to buy up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, insider Jeetendra I. Patel sold 9,961 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.97, for a total transaction of $637,205.17. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 257,162 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,450,653.14. The trade was a 3.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 11,808 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total value of $760,080.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 200,191 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,886,294.67. This trade represents a 5.57% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 34,239 shares of company stock valued at $2,181,437 in the last quarter. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cisco Systems

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Navigoe LLC acquired a new position in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. JDM Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Cisco Systems by 160.4% in the 4th quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 487 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company's stock.

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.

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