Cisco Systems (CSCO) Competitors

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) are both large-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, media sentiment, analyst recommendations and risk.

Is GOOG or CSCO more profitable?

Alphabet has a net margin of 30.86% compared to Cisco Systems' net margin of 17.60%. Alphabet's return on equity of 34.54% beat Cisco Systems' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Alphabet	30.86%	34.54%	25.07%
Cisco Systems	17.60%	26.48%	9.87%

Do analysts prefer GOOG or CSCO?

Alphabet presently has a consensus price target of $207.13, indicating a potential upside of 13.17%. Cisco Systems has a consensus price target of $69.95, indicating a potential upside of 3.07%. Given Alphabet's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Alphabet is more favorable than Cisco Systems.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Alphabet	3 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	18 Buy rating(s)	6 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.84
Cisco Systems	0 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	15 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.76

Does the media prefer GOOG or CSCO?

In the previous week, Alphabet had 102 more articles in the media than Cisco Systems. MarketBeat recorded 174 mentions for Alphabet and 72 mentions for Cisco Systems. Cisco Systems' average media sentiment score of 1.24 beat Alphabet's score of 1.06 indicating that Cisco Systems is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Alphabet	121 Very Positive mention(s)	12 Positive mention(s)	23 Neutral mention(s)	8 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Cisco Systems	56 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	7 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has better valuation & earnings, GOOG or CSCO?

Alphabet has higher revenue and earnings than Cisco Systems. Alphabet is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Cisco Systems, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Alphabet	$350.02B	6.35	$100.12B	$8.97	20.40
Cisco Systems	$53.80B	4.99	$10.32B	$2.45	27.70

Which has more volatility and risk, GOOG or CSCO?

Alphabet has a beta of 1.01, indicating that its stock price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cisco Systems has a beta of 0.9, indicating that its stock price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is GOOG or CSCO a better dividend stock?

Alphabet pays an annual dividend of $0.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. Cisco Systems pays an annual dividend of $1.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Alphabet pays out 9.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Cisco Systems pays out 66.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Alphabet has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years and Cisco Systems has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years. Cisco Systems is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of GOOG or CSCO?

27.3% of Alphabet shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 73.3% of Cisco Systems shares are held by institutional investors. 13.0% of Alphabet shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.0% of Cisco Systems shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Alphabet beats Cisco Systems on 15 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.