Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Upgraded to Buy at New Street Research

New Street Research upgraded shares of Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report released on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. New Street Research currently has $57.00 price target on the network equipment provider’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Cisco Systems from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Cisco Systems from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a hold rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday. Barclays cut their price objective on Cisco Systems from $50.00 to $49.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Cisco Systems from an underperform rating to a neutral rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, May 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $55.89.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 1.9 %

Cisco Systems stock opened at $49.46 on Thursday. Cisco Systems has a one year low of $44.50 and a one year high of $58.19. The stock has a market cap of $199.27 billion, a PE ratio of 16.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.89. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $46.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.86.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $13.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.53 billion. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 30.82% and a net margin of 21.88%. Cisco Systems’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.01 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems will post 3.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 2nd. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is 53.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In related news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 3,378 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.89, for a total value of $155,016.42. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 52,953 shares in the company, valued at $2,430,013.17. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 2,619 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.34, for a total transaction of $118,745.46. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 176,384 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,997,250.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 3,378 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.89, for a total transaction of $155,016.42. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 52,953 shares in the company, valued at $2,430,013.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,090 shares of company stock worth $1,522,231 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cisco Systems

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in Cisco Systems in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 222.4% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 661 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 456 shares during the period. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 1,666.7% during the 4th quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 636 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the period. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Retirement Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 56.8% during the 1st quarter. Retirement Group LLC now owns 726 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the period. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.