QRG Capital Management Inc. Acquires 74,410 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. $CSCO

QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 10.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 773,089 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 74,410 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems comprises approximately 0.7% of QRG Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $59,551,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 398,943,293 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $30,730,602,000 after purchasing an additional 4,049,893 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 53,612,720 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,668,182,000 after purchasing an additional 5,081,469 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 48,498,612 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,318,275,000 after purchasing an additional 1,631,703 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 42,641,483 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,917,530,000 after purchasing an additional 1,804,625 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Cisco Systems by 7.2% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 37,674,954 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $2,577,720,000 after acquiring an additional 2,535,716 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Cisco Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Cisco Systems to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.81.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ CSCO opened at $92.63 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $58.58 and a 12-month high of $93.10. The firm has a market cap of $365.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.50, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.92.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The network equipment provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $15.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.11 billion. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 19.22% and a return on equity of 27.88%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.94 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 2nd. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is currently 58.95%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 2,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.74, for a total transaction of $169,395.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 28,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,239,456.18. This represents a 7.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 7,981 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.50, for a total transaction of $634,489.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 187,097 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,874,211.50. This trade represents a 4.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 46,431 shares of company stock valued at $3,574,820. 0.01% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.