Argent Advisors Inc. Boosts Stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Argent Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,390 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,096 shares during the period. Argent Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $1,681,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 1,096.2% during the 4th quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 2,906,676 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $146,845,000 after purchasing an additional 2,663,676 shares during the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC increased its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 270,841 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $13,683,000 after acquiring an additional 1,520 shares during the period. Marcum Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 4.0% in 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 during the period. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. increased its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 1,161.9% in the 4th quarter. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. now owns 1,008,782 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $50,964,000 after acquiring an additional 928,841 shares during the period. Finally, Inscription Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 49.4% in the 1st quarter. Inscription Capital LLC now owns 45,983 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,300,000 after acquiring an additional 15,198 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CSCO traded up $0.15 during trading on Friday, reaching $50.54. 15,615,277 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,705,105. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $44.50 and a fifty-two week high of $58.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market cap of $203.62 billion, a PE ratio of 17.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.92.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.02. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 30.82% and a net margin of 21.88%. The firm had revenue of $13.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.53 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 2nd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.87%.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In related news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.42, for a total value of $34,610.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 51,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,352,210.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.42, for a total value of $34,610.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 51,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,352,210.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 7,462 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.41, for a total transaction of $368,697.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 165,580 shares in the company, valued at $8,181,307.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 71,944 shares of company stock valued at $3,566,120. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. New Street Research raised Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $57.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $52.00 target price on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Cisco Systems from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on 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. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Cisco Systems to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.89.

Cisco Systems 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.