Analysts Set Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Price Target at $62.72

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $66.53.

Several analysts recently weighed in on CSCO shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Melius Research upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th.

Cisco Systems Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of Cisco Systems stock opened at $64.87 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.88. Cisco Systems has a 52-week low of $44.50 and a 52-week high of $66.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $258.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.84, a P/E/G ratio of 4.63 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $60.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.54.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued 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 return on equity of 25.70% and a net margin of 17.73%. Equities research analysts forecast that Cisco Systems will post 2.97 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is currently 68.67%.

Cisco Systems declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the network equipment provider to buy up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, Director Kristina M. Johnson sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.87, for a total value of $449,025.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 65,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,946,331.05. The trade was a 10.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 3,042 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.19, for a total value of $180,055.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 207,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,299,563.62. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 37,239 shares of company stock valued at $2,166,612 in the last quarter. 0.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cisco Systems

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Navigoe LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Campbell Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 76.7% during the 4th quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 599 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

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.