The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Buys 2,184,300 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. $CSCO

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Cisco Systems by 36.4%, acquiring an additional 2,184,300 shares to hold a total of 8,180,404 shares valued at $504 million.
• In recent analyst ratings, Deutsche Bank upgraded Cisco from a "hold" to a "buy" with a price target increase from $65 to $73, reflecting growing confidence in the company's prospects.
• Cisco declared a quarterly dividend of $0.41 per share, with an ex-dividend date set for October 3rd, representing an annual yield of 2.4%.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 36.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,180,404 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,184,300 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.21% of Cisco Systems worth $504,810,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 388,949,854 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $24,002,095,000 after acquiring an additional 1,865,648 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 10.4% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 47,117,146 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $2,907,599,000 after acquiring an additional 4,437,450 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 37.4% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 46,973,293 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $2,898,722,000 after acquiring an additional 12,775,066 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 36,471,275 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $2,159,099,000 after acquiring an additional 2,637,006 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 2.3% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 15,986,020 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $986,497,000 after acquiring an additional 353,377 shares during the period. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CSCO shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Monday, June 16th. CICC Research assumed coverage on Cisco Systems in a research report on Monday, July 14th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $78.00 price objective for the company. Hsbc Global Res cut Cisco Systems from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Wall Street Zen cut Cisco Systems from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $74.53.

Insider Activity

In other Cisco Systems news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 30,557 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.63, for a total value of $2,036,012.91. Following the completion of the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 3,162 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.28, for a total transaction of $212,739.36. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 31,468 shares in the company, valued at $2,117,167.04. This trade represents a 9.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 119,095 shares of company stock worth $7,841,167. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $69.43 on Friday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $68.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $63.71. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $47.85 and a fifty-two week high of $72.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $274.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last announced 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. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 27.02% and a net margin of 18.45%.The firm had revenue of $14.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.63 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.87 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Cisco Systems has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.970-0.990 EPS. FY 2026 guidance at 4.000-4.060 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

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

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.

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