ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd Raises Stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. $CSCO

ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 22.5% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 60,815 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,185 shares during the quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $4,161,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.1% in the second quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 420,336 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $29,163,000 after purchasing an additional 4,525 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 3,189,645 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $218,236,000 after buying an additional 205,043 shares during the period. Greystone Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $8,563,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 8.9% during the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 686,469 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $46,165,000 after buying an additional 56,057 shares during the period. Finally, Rockland Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 213.8% during the third quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 20,497 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,402,000 after acquiring an additional 13,966 shares in the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CSCO opened at $78.56 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.34. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $52.11 and a fifty-two week high of $88.18. The company has a market capitalization of $310.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.96.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The network equipment provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.02. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 27.88% and a net margin of 19.22%.The company had revenue of $15.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.94 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 2nd. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is 57.54%.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In related news, Director Kristina M. Johnson sold 13,481 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.13, for a total value of $1,039,789.53. Following the transaction, the director owned 61,630 shares in the company, valued at $4,753,521.90. The trade was a 17.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 9,801 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.38, for a total transaction of $748,600.38. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 33,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,522,525.88. This represents a 22.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 83,299 shares of company stock worth $6,390,416 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $71.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $83.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. BNP Paribas Exane upped their target price on Cisco Systems from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.55.

Cisco Systems Profile

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.