Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Upgraded to Buy by HSBC

HSBC upgraded shares of Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. HSBC currently has $58.00 target price on the network equipment provider’s stock, up from their prior target price of $46.00.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Piper Sandler reissued a neutral rating and issued a $52.00 target price on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com cut Cisco Systems from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research 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. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $53.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $56.70.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of CSCO opened at $49.46 on Friday. Cisco Systems has a 52-week low of $44.50 and a 52-week high of $58.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $199.27 billion, a PE ratio of 16.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $46.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

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

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.42, for a total transaction of $34,610.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 51,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,352,210.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.42, for a total value of $34,610.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 51,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,352,210.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 2,619 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.34, for a total value of $118,745.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 176,384 shares in the company, valued at $7,997,250.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 33,090 shares of company stock valued at $1,522,231 over the last three months. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cisco Systems

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 1,666.7% in the 4th quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 636 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 222.4% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 661 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 456 shares during the period. Finally, Retirement Group LLC increased its holdings in Cisco Systems by 56.8% in the first quarter. Retirement Group LLC now owns 726 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. 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.