Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-five research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, fourteen have issued a buy recommendation and three have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $90.2857.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on CSCO shares. DZ Bank raised shares of Cisco Systems to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, HSBC raised their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th.

Cisco Systems Trading Down 2.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $91.54 on Thursday. Cisco Systems has a 12 month low of $59.07 and a 12 month high of $94.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $82.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.40. The firm has a market cap of $361.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.12, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.92.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The network equipment provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.02. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 19.22% and a return on equity of 27.88%. The business had revenue of $15.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.11 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Cisco Systems will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 2nd were given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 2nd. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is 58.95%.

More Cisco Systems News

Here are the key news stories impacting Cisco Systems this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Evercore raised its price target to $110 and kept an “outperform” rating, giving an analyst-driven upside case that supports upside if Cisco continues to execute. Evercore raises CSCO price target
• Positive Sentiment: Cisco is expanding security capabilities via the planned acquisition of Astrix Security and by adding Qmulos to its SolutionsPlus program — moves that strengthen recurring-software/compliance revenue and deepen integrations (including with Splunk). These are clear strategic drivers for revenue mix improvement. Cisco to acquire Astrix Security Cisco security push with Astrix and Qmulos
• Positive Sentiment: Product innovation: coverage highlights Cisco’s Universal Quantum Switch as a potential long?term differentiator for AI networking/security — a thematic positive for investors focused on future growth vectors. Universal Quantum Switch article
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst previews (Seeking Alpha, Zacks) point to an earnings beat setup and margin focus heading into the quarter — if Cisco delivers stronger margins/revenue guidance, the stock could recover. Q3 earnings preview Zacks earnings outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: Long-term investor pieces revisit how a decade?long hold in Cisco would have performed and Wall Street’s bullish consensus — useful context but unlikely to move price near-term. 10-year return piece Is it worth investing based on Wall Street views?
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction: multiple reports note CSCO underperformed peers and is trading down despite broader market gains — suggests profit-taking/rotation and short-term selling pressure outweigh positive news. MarketWatch underperformance note Zacks notes CSCO dropped despite market gains

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 19,545 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.00, for a total value of $1,485,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 671,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,003,220. This trade represents a 2.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 2,179 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.74, for a total transaction of $169,395.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 28,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,239,456.18. This trade represents a 7.03% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 46,431 shares of company stock valued at $3,574,820 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Intesa Sanpaolo Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Networth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 276.4% in the 1st quarter. Networth Advisors LLC now owns 335 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Company Profile

Cisco Systems, Inc is a global technology company that designs, manufactures and sells networking hardware, software and telecommunications equipment. Its core business focuses on enabling enterprise and service-provider networks through products such as routers, switches, network security appliances and wireless systems. Over time Cisco has broadened its portfolio to emphasize software-defined networking, cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure and edge computing solutions that help organizations build and manage modern IT environments.

In addition to hardware, Cisco offers a growing range of software platforms and subscription services for network management, security, analytics and collaboration.