Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Given New $82.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) had its price objective hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $77.00 to $82.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the network equipment provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on CSCO. UBS Group upgraded Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $74.00 to $88.00 in a report on Monday, November 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.75.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CSCO traded up $0.62 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $78.00. 38,794,312 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,067,176. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $307.38 billion, a PE ratio of 29.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.95. Cisco Systems has a 12 month low of $52.11 and a 12 month high of $79.50. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $69.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.27.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The network equipment provider reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.02. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 27.06% and a net margin of 18.45%.The business had revenue of $14.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.91 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. Cisco Systems has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.080-4.140 EPS. Q2 2026 guidance at 1.010-1.030 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Cisco Systems will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Friday, January 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 2nd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.60%.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In related news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 1,744 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.78, for a total value of $116,464.32. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 158,009 shares in the company, valued at $10,551,841.02. This represents a 1.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Oliver Tuszik sold 17,526 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.95, for a total value of $1,190,891.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 198,855 shares in the company, valued at $13,512,197.25. The trade was a 8.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 33,089 shares of company stock worth $2,236,383. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cisco Systems

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bare Financial Services Inc increased its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 531.0% during the second quarter. Bare Financial Services Inc now owns 366 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 96.2% in the 3rd quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 408 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 89.4% in the second quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 409 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.