Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Sets New 12-Month High - What's Next?

Key Points

• 52-week high: Cisco shares reached a new 52-week high of $90.47 (last $90.45) on Thursday with roughly 3.59 million shares traded.
• Quarterly beat and revenue growth: Cisco reported $1.04 EPS versus $1.02 expected and revenue of $15.35 billion (vs. $15.11B consensus), with revenue up 9.7% year-over-year.
• Analyst sentiment: Several firms raised targets (Citigroup to $90, Rosenblatt $100, JPMorgan $96) and the consensus is a Moderate Buy with an average target near $89.81.

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $90.47 and last traded at $90.4480, with a volume of 3586245 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $89.57.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CSCO has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Cisco Systems from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Cisco Systems from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cisco Systems has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $89.81.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 2.2%

The firm has a market cap of $361.55 billion, a PE ratio of 32.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.83. The company's fifty day moving average price is $81.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $77.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The network equipment provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.02. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 19.22% and a return on equity of 27.88%. The business had revenue of $15.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.4 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 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This is an increase from Cisco Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 2nd. Cisco Systems's payout ratio is presently 58.95%.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 7,981 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.50, for a total value of $634,489.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 187,097 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,874,211.50. This represents a 4.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 1,744 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.07, for a total transaction of $134,410.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 156,693 shares in the company, valued at $12,076,329.51. This trade represents a 1.10% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 46,431 shares of company stock valued at $3,574,820 in the last 90 days. 0.01% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cisco Systems

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 398,943,293 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $30,730,602,000 after buying an additional 4,049,893 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 195,521,161 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $15,060,995,000 after buying an additional 1,057,962 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 75,326,258 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $5,802,382,000 after buying an additional 206,352 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 59,836,782 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $4,609,227,000 after buying an additional 6,224,062 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,473,272,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company's stock.

About Cisco Systems

Cisco Systems, Inc is a global technology company that designs, manufactures and sells networking hardware, software and telecommunications equipment. Its core business focuses on enabling enterprise and service-provider networks through products such as routers, switches, network security appliances and wireless systems. Over time Cisco has broadened its portfolio to emphasize software-defined networking, cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure and edge computing solutions that help organizations build and manage modern IT environments.

In addition to hardware, Cisco offers a growing range of software platforms and subscription services for network management, security, analytics and collaboration.

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