Merit Financial Group LLC Raises Stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. $CSCO

Key Points

• Merit Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Cisco Systems by 28.3% in Q2, holding 221,467 shares valued at approximately $15.4 million.
• A number of analysts have given Cisco Systems an overall positive outlook, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $74.53.
• Cisco Systems announced a quarterly dividend of $0.41, with an annualized yield of 2.4%, set to be paid on October 22nd.

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 28.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 221,467 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 48,889 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $15,365,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pandora Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the first quarter valued at $31,000. Nova Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the first quarter valued at $31,000. Brown Shipley& Co Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the second quarter valued at $32,000. Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 period. Finally, Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the first quarter valued at $36,000. 73.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $77.00 price objective for the company. CICC Research assumed coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Monday, July 14th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $78.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $74.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 9,783 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.60, for a total value of $651,547.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 161,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,766,689.20. This represents a 5.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 30,557 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.63, for a total transaction of $2,036,012.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 639,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,576,570. This trade represents a 4.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 82,965 shares of company stock worth $5,559,996 in the last quarter. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of Cisco Systems stock opened at $67.92 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $268.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.92, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $68.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.59. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52 week low of $52.11 and a 52 week high of $72.55.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 13th. The network equipment provider reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $14.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.63 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.87 EPS. Cisco Systems's 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. Sell-side analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

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

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.

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