Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Coverage Initiated at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) in a research report issued on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage set a “neutral” rating and a $53.00 price target on the network equipment provider’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target indicates a potential upside of 9.69% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on CSCO. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Cisco Systems from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Barclays lifted their target price on Cisco Systems from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $52.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Cisco Systems in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $58.00 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.53.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $48.32 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $195.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.87. Cisco Systems has a 1 year low of $45.56 and a 1 year high of $58.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.13.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.03. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 33.01% and a net margin of 23.49%. The company had revenue of $12.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.76 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Cisco Systems will post 3.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In other news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 13,942 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $697,100.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 328,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,424,550. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Cisco Systems news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 2,497 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $124,850.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 58,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,906,050. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 13,942 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $697,100.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 328,491 shares in the company, valued at $16,424,550. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 19,441 shares of company stock valued at $972,080. Corporate 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. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 1,666.7% during the 4th quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 636 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 41.9% during the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 704 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during 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.