Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Trading Up 1.6% on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) rose 1.6% during trading on Thursday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $71.00 to $73.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Cisco Systems traded as high as $65.20 and last traded at $65.10. Approximately 4,185,715 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 19,164,740 shares. The stock had previously closed at $64.08.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on CSCO. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $57.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 11,808 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total transaction of $760,080.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 200,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,886,294.67. This trade represents a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 3,042 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.19, for a total transaction of $180,055.98. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 207,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,299,563.62. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 74,848 shares of company stock valued at $4,767,206. Insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cisco Systems

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Navigoe LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. JDM Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 160.4% in the fourth quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 487 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 0.5 %

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $61.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.79. The firm has a market cap of $255.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.91 by ($0.14). Cisco Systems had a net margin of 16.96% and a return on equity of 26.08%. Equities analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.56%. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is presently 71.62%.

Cisco Systems declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the network equipment provider to repurchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.