Ascent Group LLC Purchases 58,816 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. $CSCO

Key Points

• Ascent Group LLC increased its holdings in Cisco Systems by 108.8% in Q1, owning nearly 112,893 shares valued at approximately $6.97 million.
• Cisco reported a 7.6% increase in quarterly revenue, totaling $14.67 billion, and beat earnings per share estimates at $0.99.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.41, resulting in a 2.5% dividend yield, with the ex-dividend date set for October 3rd.

Ascent Group LLC lifted its stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 108.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 112,893 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 58,816 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $6,967,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 1,054.6% in the 1st quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 47,141 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $2,703,000 after purchasing an additional 43,058 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the first quarter worth approximately $37,204,000. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 13.6% in the first quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,152 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $503,000 after buying an additional 978 shares in the last quarter. Sciencast Management LP bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the first quarter worth approximately $3,561,000. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 54.4% in the first quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 111,211 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $6,863,000 after buying an additional 39,161 shares in the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CSCO has been the topic of several analyst reports. KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $77.00 target price on the stock. New Street Research reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Friday, May 16th. William Blair raised Cisco Systems to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Cisco Systems from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Cisco Systems from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $74.53.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In other news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 3,162 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.28, for a total transaction of $212,739.36. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 31,468 shares in the company, valued at $2,117,167.04. This trade represents a 9.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 9,783 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.60, for a total transaction of $651,547.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 161,662 shares in the company, valued at $10,766,689.20. The trade was a 5.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 89,311 shares of company stock valued at $5,916,823 in the last ninety days. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

CSCO traded up $0.46 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $67.34. The company's stock had a trading volume of 11,636,043 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,548,000. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a one year low of $47.85 and a one year high of $72.55. The firm has a market cap of $266.21 billion, a PE ratio of 25.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.99. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $68.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.92.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 13th. The network equipment provider reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.01. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 18.45% and a return on equity of 27.06%. The business had revenue of $14.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.63 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.87 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Cisco Systems has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.970-0.990 EPS. FY 2026 guidance at 4.000-4.060 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 3rd. Cisco Systems's payout ratio is currently 62.60%.

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.