IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd Boosts Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Key Points

• IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd increased its position in Cisco Systems by 3.0% during the first quarter, owning 191,935 shares valued at approximately $11.8 million.
• Analysts have shown optimism for Cisco, with ratings upgrades from various firms, including Wells Fargo, which raised the price target from $72.00 to $75.00.
• Cisco announced a quarterly dividend of $0.41 per share, equating to an annual yield of 2.4%, with a dividend payout ratio of 66.94%.

IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd increased its position in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 3.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 191,935 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,600 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems accounts for about 1.4% of IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $11,844,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Navigoe LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth approximately $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 worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Cisco Systems by 224.7% during the first quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 578 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Investment Management Corp VA ADV grew its position in Cisco Systems by 145.3% in the first quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV now owns 596 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.33% of the company's stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Up 2.5%

Shares of NASDAQ CSCO traded up $1.69 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $69.21. 23,097,640 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,347,027. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1-year low of $44.50 and a 1-year high of $69.78. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $62.85. The stock has a market cap of $274.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.25, a PEG ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 0.91.

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

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.07, for a total value of $48,821.34. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 36,937 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,366,553.59. This represents a 2.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jeetendra I. Patel sold 899 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.27, for a total transaction of $57,778.73. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 255,377 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,413,079.79. This represents a 0.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 97,335 shares of company stock worth $6,271,054 in the last quarter. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $65.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Barclays restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Evercore ISI reissued an "in-line" rating and issued a $72.00 price target on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $63.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Cisco Systems from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th. Eight equities 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $70.55.

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.