Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Citigroup

Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a neutral rating and a $52.00 price target on the network equipment provider's stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a hold rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Melius cut shares of Cisco Systems from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $56.03.

Cisco Systems Trading Down 2.1 %

Cisco Systems stock traded down $1.04 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $48.49. The stock had a trading volume of 16,415,219 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,717,400. The stock has a market cap of $196.35 billion, a PE ratio of 14.74, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.87. Cisco Systems has a 52 week low of $45.56 and a 52 week high of $58.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.48.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $12.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.71 billion. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 23.49% and a return on equity of 33.01%. The company's revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.76 EPS. Analysts forecast that Cisco Systems will post 3.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 4th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 3rd. This is a boost from Cisco Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. Cisco Systems's payout ratio is 48.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cisco Systems news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 2,497 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $124,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 58,121 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,906,050. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 2,497 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $124,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 58,121 shares in the company, valued at $2,906,050. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 13,942 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $697,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 328,491 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,424,550. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 19,441 shares of company stock valued at $972,080. Insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Cisco Systems

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Cisco Systems during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 1,666.7% in the fourth quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 636 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Fortis Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cisco Systems Company Profile

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.