Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Stock Price Expected to Rise, The Goldman Sachs Group Analyst Says

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) had its target price increased by analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $56.00 to $63.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the network equipment provider’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price target would indicate a potential downside of 1.35% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Rosenblatt Securities raised Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $57.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Melius upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $73.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.37.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 2.1 %

NASDAQ:CSCO traded up $1.33 on Thursday, reaching $63.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 24,828,313 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,289,447. The firm has a market cap of $254.34 billion, a PE ratio of 27.46, a PEG ratio of 4.63 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.88. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $59.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.36. Cisco Systems has a 1-year low of $44.50 and a 1-year high of $66.50.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.91 by ($0.14). Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 25.70% and a net margin of 17.73%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the network equipment provider to buy up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In related news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 21,230 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.07, for a total value of $1,211,596.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 213,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,203,506.38. The trade was a 9.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 171,744 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.49, for a total transaction of $9,873,562.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 783,786 shares in the company, valued at $45,059,857.14. The trade was a 17.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 353,522 shares of company stock worth $20,349,721. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cisco Systems

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Faithward Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Faithward Advisors LLC now owns 20,512 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,214,000 after acquiring an additional 780 shares during the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. lifted its stake in Cisco Systems by 520.4% in the 4th quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 2,608,715 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $149,141,000 after purchasing an additional 2,188,252 shares during the last quarter. German American Bancorp Inc. boosted its position in Cisco Systems by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. German American Bancorp Inc. now owns 108,660 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $6,433,000 after buying an additional 1,456 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 73.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 2,646,681 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $156,684,000 after buying an additional 1,121,857 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canopy Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 63.8% in the 4th quarter. Canopy Partners LLC now owns 15,171 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $898,000 after acquiring an additional 5,909 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

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.