Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Price Target Raised to $73.00 at Citigroup

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) had its target price increased by Citigroup from $71.00 to $73.00 in a research report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the network equipment provider’s stock.

CSCO has been the subject of several other research reports. StockNews.com lowered Cisco Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays upped their target price on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $66.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.63.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

Shares of CSCO opened at $64.14 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $255.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.01, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $61.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Cisco Systems has a 12 month low of $44.50 and a 12 month high of $66.50.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by ($0.14). Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 26.08% and a net margin of 16.96%. On average, research analysts forecast that Cisco Systems will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the network equipment provider to reacquire up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.56%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is 71.62%.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, Director Kristina M. Johnson sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.87, for a total value of $449,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 65,915 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,946,331.05. This trade represents a 10.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $2,060,025.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 736,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,413,489.20. The trade was a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 74,848 shares of company stock worth $4,767,206 in the last 90 days. 0.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cisco Systems

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Navigoe LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. JDM Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 160.4% in the 4th quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 487 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Cisco Systems

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.