Ticino Wealth Buys Shares of 53,948 Cisco Systems, Inc. $CSCO

Key Points

• Ticino Wealth purchased 53,948 shares of Cisco Systems in Q4, paying about $4.16 million for the new position, which represents roughly 1.5% of the fund and is its 17th largest holding.
• Brokerages show a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Cisco with an average target price of $89.81, and several firms recently raised targets or upgraded the stock (e.g., UBS to $95, buy).
• Cisco beat quarterly estimates (EPS $1.04 vs. $1.02; revenue $15.35B, +9.7% YoY), raised its quarterly dividend to $0.42 (1.9% yield), and insiders have sold roughly 46,431 shares in the past three months.

Ticino Wealth purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 53,948 shares of the network equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,156,000. Cisco Systems comprises about 1.5% of Ticino Wealth's holdings, making the stock its 17th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 6.9% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 3,189,645 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $218,236,000 after acquiring an additional 205,043 shares during the last quarter. Greystone Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $8,563,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 8.9% during the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 686,469 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $46,165,000 after buying an additional 56,057 shares in the last quarter. Rockland Trust Co. increased its position in Cisco Systems by 213.8% during the third quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 20,497 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $1,402,000 after acquiring an additional 13,966 shares during the period. Finally, CX Institutional boosted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 144,336 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $9,875,000 after purchasing an additional 14,334 shares during the period. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on CSCO. DZ Bank upgraded Cisco Systems to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen cut Cisco Systems from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. BNP Paribas Exane upped their target price on Cisco Systems from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Cisco Systems presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $89.81.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

CSCO stock opened at $87.64 on Tuesday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $54.58 and a 52-week high of $88.35. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $76.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.96. The company has a market capitalization of $346.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.83.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The network equipment provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.02. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 19.22% and a return on equity of 27.88%. The business had revenue of $15.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 2nd. This is an increase from Cisco Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Cisco Systems's payout ratio is 58.95%.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Oliver Tuszik sold 3,132 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.74, for a total value of $249,745.68. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 188,613 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,040,000.62. This trade represents a 1.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jeetendra I. Patel sold 11,248 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.00, for a total value of $854,848.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 262,776 shares in the company, valued at $19,970,976. This trade represents a 4.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 46,431 shares of company stock valued at $3,574,820. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Cisco Systems Profile

Cisco Systems, Inc is a global technology company that designs, manufactures and sells networking hardware, software and telecommunications equipment. Its core business focuses on enabling enterprise and service-provider networks through products such as routers, switches, network security appliances and wireless systems. Over time Cisco has broadened its portfolio to emphasize software-defined networking, cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure and edge computing solutions that help organizations build and manage modern IT environments.

In addition to hardware, Cisco offers a growing range of software platforms and subscription services for network management, security, analytics and collaboration.

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