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

Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $66.65 and last traded at $66.17, with a volume of 9593177 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $65.84.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley restated a "hold" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $65.00 to $73.00 in a report on Monday, June 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, New Street Research reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Friday, May 16th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $69.11.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market cap of $262.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.88. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $61.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $60.78.

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

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.47%. Cisco Systems's payout ratio is 66.94%.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In other news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 9,643 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.50, for a total transaction of $612,330.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 181,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,505,311. This represents a 5.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 8,726 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.54, for a total transaction of $571,902.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 174,669 shares in the company, valued at $11,447,806.26. This represents a 4.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 97,335 shares of company stock worth $6,271,054 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cisco Systems

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Navigoe LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. JDM Financial Group LLC grew its position 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.