Analysts Set Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) PT at $89.76

Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-five ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, fourteen have issued a buy recommendation and three have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $89.8095.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CSCO shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. Zacks Research lowered Cisco Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Cisco Systems in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $94.00 target price on the stock. Evercore raised Cisco Systems from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $80.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, President Capital cut their target price on Cisco Systems from $90.00 to $88.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 24th.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of Cisco Systems stock opened at $86.25 on Friday. Cisco Systems has a fifty-two week low of $53.83 and a fifty-two week high of $88.18. The firm has a market cap of $340.68 billion, a PE ratio of 30.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.83. The business’s fifty day moving average is $79.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The network equipment provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.02. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 27.88% and a net margin of 19.22%.The company had revenue of $15.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.94 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 2nd will be given a $0.42 dividend. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is 58.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jeetendra I. Patel sold 11,248 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.00, for a total value of $854,848.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 262,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,970,976. This trade represents a 4.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Oliver Tuszik sold 3,132 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.74, for a total value of $249,745.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 188,613 shares in the company, valued at $15,040,000.62. This trade represents a 1.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 46,431 shares of company stock worth $3,574,820. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cisco Systems

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Cisco Systems by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 398,943,293 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $30,730,602,000 after purchasing an additional 4,049,893 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Cisco Systems by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 195,521,161 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $15,060,995,000 after purchasing an additional 1,057,962 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Cisco Systems by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 75,326,258 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,802,382,000 after purchasing an additional 206,352 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Cisco Systems by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 59,836,782 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,609,227,000 after purchasing an additional 6,224,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at $4,473,272,000. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Cisco Systems

Cisco Systems, Inc is a global technology company that designs, manufactures and sells networking hardware, software and telecommunications equipment. Its core business focuses on enabling enterprise and service-provider networks through products such as routers, switches, network security appliances and wireless systems. Over time Cisco has broadened its portfolio to emphasize software-defined networking, cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure and edge computing solutions that help organizations build and manage modern IT environments.

In addition to hardware, Cisco offers a growing range of software platforms and subscription services for network management, security, analytics and collaboration.