Prudential PLC Has $26.54 Million Stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Key Points

• Prudential PLC increased its stake in Cisco Systems by 1.8%, owning 430,017 shares valued at approximately $26.54 million at the end of the first quarter.
• Equities analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Cisco Systems, with a price target averaging $70.55, reflecting positive sentiment among investors.
• Cisco Systems announced a quarterly dividend of $0.41 per share, which equates to an annualized dividend of $1.64 and a yield of 2.3%.

Prudential PLC lifted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 1.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 430,017 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 7,718 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $26,536,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 49.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 74,187 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $4,392,000 after buying an additional 24,562 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 37.0% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,156 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $542,000 after buying an additional 2,474 shares in the last quarter. Peninsula Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Peninsula Wealth LLC now owns 9,448 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $559,000 after buying an additional 531 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC boosted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 2,070,959 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $122,600,000 after buying an additional 224,528 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Icon Advisers Inc. Co. boosted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 21.3% during the fourth quarter. Icon Advisers Inc. Co. now owns 65,390 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $3,871,000 after buying an additional 11,490 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company's stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of Cisco Systems stock traded down $1.10 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $69.30. 39,251,023 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,526,805. The company has a market cap of $274.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.91. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $67.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.95. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52 week low of $47.85 and a 52 week high of $72.55.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 13th. The network equipment provider reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $14.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.63 billion. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 17.60% and a return on equity of 26.48%. Cisco Systems's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.87 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 (DPR) is 66.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. New Street Research reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Friday, May 16th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $76.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $87.00 price objective on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $72.90.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In related news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 29,784 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.61, for a total value of $1,924,344.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 688,409 shares in the company, valued at $44,478,105.49. This trade represents a 4.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 9,643 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.50, for a total transaction of $612,330.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 181,186 shares in the company, valued at $11,505,311. This trade represents a 5.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 97,335 shares of company stock worth $6,271,054. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.

Cisco Systems Company 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.