Baker Avenue Asset Management LP Buys 7,833 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Key Points

• Baker Avenue Asset Management LP increased its stake in Cisco Systems by 40.2%, owning 27,331 shares valued at $1.69 million following additional purchases.
• Institutional investors continue to dominate, owning 73.33% of Cisco's stock, with various hedge funds significantly increasing their positions over recent quarters.
• Cisco's recent performance saw a beating of EPS estimates with $0.96 reported, alongside a quarterly revenue of $14.15 billion, reflecting an 11.4% year-over-year growth.

Baker Avenue Asset Management LP lifted its holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 40.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,331 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 7,833 shares during the period. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $1,687,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 49.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 74,187 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $4,392,000 after acquiring an additional 24,562 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Cisco Systems by 37.0% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,156 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $542,000 after acquiring an additional 2,474 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 39.5% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 440,169 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $26,058,000 after purchasing an additional 124,529 shares during the last quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 34,067 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $2,011,000 after purchasing an additional 2,029 shares during the period. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 257.5% in the fourth quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 22,651 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $1,341,000 after purchasing an additional 16,315 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on CSCO shares. New Street Research reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Citigroup increased their price target on Cisco Systems from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $72.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, CICC Research started coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Monday, July 14th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $78.00 target price on the stock. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $70.55.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 2.5%

CSCO stock traded up $1.69 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $69.21. The stock had a trading volume of 23,093,120 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,166,973. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.50 and a 12-month high of $69.78. The company's 50-day moving average price is $67.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $62.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market cap of $274.07 billion, a PE ratio of 28.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.91.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.04. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 26.48% and a net margin of 17.60%. The business had revenue of $14.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.88 EPS. The company's revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. Cisco Systems's payout ratio is 66.94%.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In other news, insider Jeetendra I. Patel sold 899 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.27, for a total value of $57,778.73. Following the sale, the insider owned 255,377 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,413,079.79. The trade was a 0.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 2,407 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.01, for a total value of $154,072.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 177,027 shares in the company, valued at $11,331,498.27. This represents a 1.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 97,335 shares of company stock valued at $6,271,054. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.

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.