Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Receives $66.63 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-three analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, fourteen have issued a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $66.63.

CSCO has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group lifted their price target on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. DZ Bank raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday, March 6th.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In related news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total transaction of $125,345.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 191,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,604,868.80. This represents a 1.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $2,060,025.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 736,120 shares in the company, valued at $47,413,489.20. This trade represents a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 66,547 shares of company stock worth $4,275,553. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cisco Systems

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Navigoe LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. JDM Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in 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 last quarter. Finally, Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Trading Down 4.8 %

Shares of CSCO opened at $54.54 on Wednesday. Cisco Systems has a twelve month low of $44.50 and a twelve month high of $66.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $216.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.82, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.86. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $61.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.92.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Cisco Systems will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems declared that its board has authorized 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 repurchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.01%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.62%.

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.