Evercore Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Stock

Key Points

• Evercore raised its price target on Cisco to $110 (from $100) and kept an "outperform" rating, implying about a 16.8% upside from the prior close.
• Cisco recently beat quarterly expectations with $1.04 EPS (vs. $1.02 expected) and $15.35B revenue, up 9.7% year‑over‑year.
• Analysts' consensus is a "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $90.29 while the stock trades near its 52‑week high (~$94) and institutional investors own roughly 73% of shares.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) had its target price raised by stock analysts at Evercore from $100.00 to $110.00 in a report released on Monday,MarketScreener reports. The firm currently has an "outperform" rating on the network equipment provider's stock. Evercore's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 16.76% from the company's previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on CSCO. CICC Research upped their price target on Cisco Systems from $84.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Zacks Research lowered Cisco Systems from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Citigroup upped their target price on Cisco Systems from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. HSBC raised their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Three 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 MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $90.29.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of NASDAQ CSCO opened at $94.21 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $81.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $78.07. The stock has a market cap of $372.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.92. Cisco Systems has a 52-week low of $58.58 and a 52-week high of $94.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.96.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The network equipment provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $15.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.11 billion. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 19.22% and a return on equity of 27.88%. Cisco Systems's revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Cisco Systems will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In other news, EVP Oliver Tuszik sold 3,132 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.74, for a total transaction of $249,745.68. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 188,613 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,040,000.62. This trade represents a 1.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 1,744 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction on 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 owned 156,693 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,076,329.51. This represents a 1.10% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 46,431 shares of company stock valued at $3,574,820 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cisco Systems

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Cisco Systems by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 398,943,293 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $30,730,602,000 after buying an additional 4,049,893 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in Cisco Systems by 0.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,057,962 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Cisco Systems by 0.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 206,352 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 6,224,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,473,272,000. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cisco Systems Company Profile

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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