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

Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-four brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, fourteen have assigned a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $69.53.

CSCO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $63.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Barclays restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st.

Cisco Systems Stock Down 0.7%

CSCO opened at $68.76 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $64.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $272.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.14 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.87. Cisco Systems has a one year low of $44.50 and a one year high of $69.78.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.04. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 17.60% and a return on equity of 26.48%. The company had revenue of $14.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Cisco Systems will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio is currently 66.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.07, for a total value of $48,821.34. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 36,937 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,366,553.59. This trade represents a 2.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 2,407 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.01, for a total transaction of $154,072.07. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 177,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,331,498.27. This trade represents a 1.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 97,335 shares of company stock worth $6,271,054. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 10.8% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,298 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $389,000 after purchasing an additional 612 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Cisco Systems by 76.4% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,947 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $1,003,000 after purchasing an additional 7,338 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 28.9% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,037,909 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $249,180,000 after acquiring an additional 904,548 shares during the last quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 44.6% during the fourth quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 193,478 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $11,454,000 after acquiring an additional 59,680 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlTi Global Inc. grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 49.8% during the fourth quarter. AlTi Global Inc. now owns 20,483 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $1,217,000 after acquiring an additional 6,811 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.

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