Evercore ISI Boosts Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Price Target to $60.00

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) had its price target boosted by Evercore ISI from $55.00 to $60.00 in a research note published on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the network equipment provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on CSCO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Despite investors’ hopes for a rebound in Networking Equipment demand to boost Cisco’s fourth-quarter 2024 performance, the anticipation is tempered by limited indications of a significant recovery in demand. Barclays cut their target price on Cisco Systems from $50.00 to $49.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. New Street Research upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $57.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $53.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cisco Systems has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $55.00.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $51.97 on Friday. Cisco Systems has a one year low of $44.50 and a one year high of $54.58. The firm has a market cap of $209.38 billion, a PE ratio of 17.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.83. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $48.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $48.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.02. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 27.83% and a net margin of 19.18%. The business had revenue of $13.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.01 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Cisco Systems will post 2.9 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 2nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.08%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 27,143 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.45, for a total value of $1,342,221.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 683,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,794,278.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 22,309 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $1,115,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 293,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,659,200. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 27,143 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.45, for a total transaction of $1,342,221.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 683,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,794,278.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 70,529 shares of company stock valued at $3,509,049. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cisco Systems

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Gilbert & Cook Inc. grew its stake in Cisco Systems by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 23,417 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,183,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the period. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 104.2% in the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 23,064 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,177,000 after purchasing an additional 11,767 shares during the period. Tidemark LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. BlackDiamond Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. BlackDiamond Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,750 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $235,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Cisco Systems by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 798,798 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $40,355,000 after buying an additional 39,276 shares in the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.