Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Acquired by MRA Advisory Group

MRA Advisory Group grew its position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 13.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,762 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 787 shares during the period. MRA Advisory Group’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $417,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth $3,297,905,000. FMR LLC grew its position in Cisco Systems by 20.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 77,216,513 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $4,571,218,000 after purchasing an additional 13,285,052 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth about $560,722,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth about $413,491,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Cisco Systems by 7,096.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,718,402 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $414,593,000 after acquiring an additional 6,625,045 shares during the period. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of CSCO opened at $64.62 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $255.90 billion, a PE ratio of 28.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.88. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.50 and a 52-week high of $66.50. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $59.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $60.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $14.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.05 billion. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 16.96% and a return on equity of 26.08%. Cisco Systems’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.88 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.54%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.94%.

Cisco Systems announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the network equipment provider to purchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on CSCO. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Cisco Systems from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.00.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In related news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.99, for a total value of $46,474.38. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 44,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,693,013.45. The trade was a 1.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total transaction of $125,345.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 191,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,604,868.80. This trade represents a 1.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,616 shares of company stock valued at $2,640,095 over the last 90 days. 0.01% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.