Athena Wealth Management LLC Acquires 9,037 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. $CSCO

Key Points

• Athena Wealth Management LLC increased its Cisco stake by 59.7% in the first quarter, buying 9,037 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 24,178 shares valued at about $1.88 million.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on Cisco, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.90, while several firms recently raised their targets sharply.
• Cisco reported solid quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue expectations, and also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share payable July 22, implying an annualized yield of 1.4%.

Athena Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 59.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,178 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 9,037 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems accounts for 1.5% of Athena Wealth Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Athena Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $1,876,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Intesa Sanpaolo Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Jessup Wealth Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CSCO shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Cisco Systems from $116.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. New Street Research lifted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $82.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Evercore boosted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $110.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $95.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $122.90.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of CSCO opened at $121.53 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $479.00 billion, a PE ratio of 39.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $106.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $88.40. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $65.75 and a 52-week high of $130.37.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The network equipment provider reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $15.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.56 billion. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 20.14% and a return on equity of 28.44%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.96 EPS. Cisco Systems has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 1.160-1.180 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 4.270-4.290 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 6th will be given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 6th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Cisco Systems's payout ratio is 54.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 7,127 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.91, for a total value of $854,598.57. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 140,857 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,890,162.87. The trade was a 4.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Oliver Tuszik sold 2,607 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.12, for a total transaction of $315,759.84. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 172,727 shares in the company, valued at $20,920,694.24. The trade was a 1.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 47,650 shares of company stock worth $5,668,823 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.

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.

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