HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 1,201,695 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. $CSCO

HighTower Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 22.9% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,056,824 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,201,695 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $476,514,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Intesa Sanpaolo Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Networth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Cisco Systems by 276.4% during the first quarter. Networth Advisors LLC now owns 335 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the period. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in Cisco Systems during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 137.0% in the first quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 346 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

CSCO opened at $109.20 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $114.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $102.38. The company has a market capitalization of $430.53 billion, a PE ratio of 32.69, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.00. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1-year low of $66.13 and a 1-year high of $130.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 12th. The network equipment provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $17.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.84 billion. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 20.95% and a return on equity of 30.16%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.99 EPS. Cisco Systems has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.050-5.110 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.320-1.340 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 4.43 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 2nd will be given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 2nd. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.30%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 21,628 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.54, for a total transaction of $2,412,387.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 602,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,226,273.40. This represents a 3.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Deborah Stahlkopf sold 6,487 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.53, for a total value of $723,495.11. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 167,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,638,447.48. This represents a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 53,611 shares of company stock valued at $6,066,680. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on CSCO shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Argus raised their price target on Cisco Systems from $100.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. New Street Research upped their price objective on Cisco Systems from $82.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. BNP Paribas Exane increased their target price on Cisco Systems from $87.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on Cisco Systems from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.68.

About Cisco Systems

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.