Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Stock Price Expected to Rise, JPMorgan Chase & Co. Analyst Says

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) had its price target boosted by research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $69.00 to $73.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the network equipment provider’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price would indicate a potential upside of 16.16% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also commented on CSCO. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays upped their price target on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Melius Research raised Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, 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 report on Tuesday, December 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Cisco Systems currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.56.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of CSCO stock traded up $0.32 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $62.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 17,767,584 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,967,555. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Cisco Systems has a one year low of $44.50 and a one year high of $66.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $250.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.01, a P/E/G ratio of 4.63 and a beta of 0.84. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $59.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.36.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 17.73% and a return on equity of 25.70%. Equities research analysts expect that Cisco Systems will post 2.97 EPS for the current year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In other news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 171,744 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.49, for a total value of $9,873,562.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 783,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,059,857.14. The trade was a 17.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 21,230 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.07, for a total transaction of $1,211,596.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 213,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,203,506.38. This represents a 9.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 353,522 shares of company stock worth $20,349,721 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cisco Systems

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Campbell Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised 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 worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 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.