Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 18.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 223,121 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 35,302 shares during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $10,600,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 1,096.2% during the fourth quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 2,906,676 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $146,845,000 after buying an additional 2,663,676 shares in the last quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC grew its stake in Cisco Systems by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 24,346 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,215,000 after acquiring an additional 943 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its stake in Cisco Systems by 24.4% during the 2nd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 264,647 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $12,573,000 after acquiring an additional 51,924 shares in the last quarter. Inscription Capital LLC lifted its stake in Cisco Systems by 49.4% in the 1st quarter. Inscription Capital LLC now owns 45,983 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $2,300,000 after purchasing an additional 15,198 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth approximately $117,000. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on CSCO shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company 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. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $52.00 target price on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, August 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.11.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

CSCO stock opened at $51.97 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $48.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $48.05. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.50 and a 12-month high of $54.58. The company has a market capitalization of $209.38 billion, a PE ratio of 17.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.02. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 19.18% and a return on equity of 27.83%. The business had revenue of $13.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.01 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 2.9 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 2nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.08%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.87%.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In related news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 27,143 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.45, for a total transaction of $1,342,221.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 683,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,794,278.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 27,143 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.45, for a total value of $1,342,221.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 683,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,794,278.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 22,309 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $1,115,450.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 293,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,659,200. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 70,529 shares of company stock valued at $3,509,049. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.