Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Given New $62.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) had its target price increased by Morgan Stanley from $58.00 to $62.00 in a research report report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the network equipment provider’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Cisco Systems from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $50.00 to $49.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, New Street Research raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $57.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $59.42.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CSCO traded down $0.53 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $57.39. 16,882,091 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,089,469. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $229.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.82, a P/E/G ratio of 4.90 and a beta of 0.83. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $54.00 and a 200 day moving average of $49.69. Cisco Systems has a twelve month low of $44.50 and a twelve month high of $59.38.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.02. The company 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 25.62% and a net margin of 17.73%. Cisco Systems’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Cisco Systems will post 2.89 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 22,309 shares of the business’s 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 in the company, valued at $14,659,200. The trade was a 7.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 8,270 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.33, for a total transaction of $416,229.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 135,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,821,929.52. This trade represents a 5.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 35,924 shares of company stock worth $1,798,131 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 59.3% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 775,559 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $36,847,000 after acquiring an additional 288,775 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its position in Cisco Systems by 24.4% during the 2nd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 264,647 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $12,573,000 after purchasing an additional 51,924 shares during the last quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI lifted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 1,658,417 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $88,261,000 after buying an additional 162,544 shares during the period. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. now owns 635,667 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $33,830,000 after buying an additional 92,179 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IRON Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the third quarter valued at about $856,000. Institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

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.