Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Increases Stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. $CSCO

Key Points

• Clark Capital Management Group Inc. increased its stake in Cisco Systems by 17.4% in the first quarter, resulting in holdings worth approximately $119.7 million.
• Several hedge funds, including AQR Capital Management and AllianceBernstein, also raised their stakes in Cisco, which is now primarily owned by institutional investors, holding 73.33% of the stock.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.41 per share, with an annualized dividend yield of 2.4%, highlighting Cisco's ongoing commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. raised its stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 17.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,939,905 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 287,794 shares during the period. Cisco Systems makes up 0.9% of Clark Capital Management Group Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Clark Capital Management Group Inc.'s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $119,712,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 2.9% in the first quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 5,654 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $349,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,100 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $302,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Avalon Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 5.4% during the first quarter. Avalon Trust Co now owns 3,433 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $212,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Rossmore Private Capital lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.3% during the first quarter. Rossmore Private Capital now owns 69,220 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $4,272,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GSG Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 4.8% during the first quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 4,023 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $234,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CSCO. HSBC reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $69.00 price target on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Friday, August 15th. Barclays upped their price target on Cisco Systems from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. CICC Research began coverage on Cisco Systems in a report on Monday, July 14th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $78.00 price target on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $65.00 to $73.00 in a report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, KeyCorp initiated coverage on Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, June 26th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $77.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $74.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 7,511 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.84, for a total value of $502,035.24. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 161,467 shares in the company, valued at $10,792,454.28. This represents a 4.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 9,783 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.60, for a total value of $651,547.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 161,662 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,766,689.20. The trade was a 5.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 89,311 shares of company stock valued at $5,916,823. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of CSCO stock traded down $1.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $66.90. 21,048,179 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,822,246. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12 month low of $47.85 and a 12 month high of $72.55. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $68.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $264.47 billion, a PE ratio of 25.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.99.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 13th. The network equipment provider reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $14.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.63 billion. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 27.02% and a net margin of 18.45%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.87 earnings per share. Cisco Systems has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.970-0.990 EPS. FY 2026 guidance at 4.000-4.060 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

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 given a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 3rd. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.