Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the twenty-one brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have assigned a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $56.03.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Melius Research reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Monday, January 8th. Bank of America upgraded Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $60.00 in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Cisco Systems in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $58.00 target price for the company. Barclays upped their target price on Cisco Systems from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In other news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 13,942 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $697,100.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 328,491 shares in the company, valued at $16,424,550. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 3,002 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.01, for a total transaction of $150,130.02. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 191,559 shares in the company, valued at $9,579,865.59. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 13,942 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $697,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 328,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,424,550. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 19,441 shares of company stock worth $972,080 over the last quarter. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cisco Systems

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wealthspire Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 48.1% during the third quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 71,385 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,838,000 after acquiring an additional 23,194 shares during the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.5% during the third quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 64,136 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,448,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,685,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.1% during the third quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 4,470,521 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $240,335,000 after acquiring an additional 49,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC now owns 192,674 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $9,734,000 after acquiring an additional 1,097 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

CSCO opened at $47.92 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $49.18 and a 200 day moving average of $50.32. Cisco Systems has a 52-week low of $45.56 and a 52-week high of $58.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market cap of $194.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.57, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.87.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.03. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 33.01% and a net margin of 23.49%. The company had revenue of $12.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.76 EPS. Cisco Systems’s revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 4th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 3rd. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.34%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.63%.

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.