Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Has $18.01 Million Stock Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Key Points

• Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its stake in Cisco Systems by 7.2% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 19,726 shares, bringing its total holdings to 291,881 shares valued at approximately $18 million.
• Institutions own 73.33% of Cisco Systems' stock, with significant increases in holdings from firms like Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which raised its stake by 37.4%, now owning nearly 47 million shares.
• Analysts have adjusted their price targets for Cisco, with JPMorgan and CICC both setting targets at $78.00, reflecting positive sentiment towards the company's performance and earnings potential.

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 7.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 291,881 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 19,726 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $18,012,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CSCO. Navigoe LLC purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. JDM Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 160.4% in the 4th quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 487 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Cisco Systems by 224.7% during the 1st quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 578 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Cisco Systems during the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. New Street Research reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Friday, May 16th. CICC Research assumed coverage on Cisco Systems in a research note on Monday, July 14th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $78.00 price objective on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on Cisco Systems from $63.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Barclays reiterated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. They issued a "peer perform" rating for the company. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned 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 price target of $70.55.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In related news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 29,784 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.61, for a total value of $1,924,344.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 688,409 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,478,105.49. This represents a 4.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Oliver Tuszik sold 15,000 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.53, for a total transaction of $952,950.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 131,676 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,365,376.28. This trade represents a 10.23% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 97,335 shares of company stock valued at $6,271,054. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 2.5%

Shares of NASDAQ CSCO traded up $1.69 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $69.21. 23,097,640 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,347,027. The firm has a market capitalization of $274.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $67.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $62.89. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1 year low of $44.50 and a 1 year high of $69.78.

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

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

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

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.