Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on CSCO. Citic Securities raised their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $90.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $76.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Cisco Systems from $86.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Cisco Systems from $90.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, CICC Research upped their price objective on Cisco Systems from $96.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.14.

Cisco Systems Trading Down 0.4%

CSCO opened at $117.01 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $461.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.02. Cisco Systems has a 52 week low of $65.75 and a 52 week high of $130.37. The business’s 50 day moving average is $111.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $90.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 13th. The network equipment provider reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $15.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.56 billion. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 28.44% and a net margin of 20.14%.The company’s revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.96 earnings per share. Cisco Systems has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 1.160-1.180 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 4.270-4.290 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Cisco Systems will post 3.54 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, July 6th will be given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 6th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.55%.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 7,127 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.91, for a total value of $854,598.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 140,857 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,890,162.87. This represents a 4.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Jeetendra I. Patel sold 7,169 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.28, for a total value of $840,780.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 246,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,937,315.36. This trade represents a 2.82% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 47,650 shares of company stock worth $5,668,823 in the last three months. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cisco Systems

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Intesa Sanpaolo Wealth Management purchased a new position in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Networth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 276.4% during 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. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 137.0% in the 1st quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 346 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

About Cisco Systems

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.