Vestcor Inc Sells 12,659 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Key Points

• Vestcor Inc sold 12,659 shares of Cisco Systems, decreasing its stake by 3.0% to 404,112 shares, worth approximately $24.94 million.
• Cisco's recent quarterly earnings showed EPS of $0.96, surpassing estimates, and the company reported a revenue increase of 11.4% year-over-year.
• JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its price target on Cisco shares from $73.00 to $78.00, reflecting a positive outlook among analysts, with 18 analysts giving the stock a "buy" rating.

Vestcor Inc cut its stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 3.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 404,112 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after selling 12,659 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems comprises about 0.8% of Vestcor Inc's holdings, making the stock its 19th largest position. Vestcor Inc's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $24,938,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brucke Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Cisco Systems by 96.3% during the first quarter. Brucke Financial Inc. now owns 9,721 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $561,000 after buying an additional 4,769 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its stake in Cisco Systems by 13.9% during the first quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 270,490 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $16,684,000 after buying an additional 32,926 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new stake in Cisco Systems during the first quarter valued at $15,667,000. FSA Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Cisco Systems during the first quarter valued at $212,000. Finally, Premier Fund Managers Ltd bought a new stake in Cisco Systems during the first quarter valued at $6,693,000. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jeetendra I. Patel sold 9,961 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.97, for a total transaction of $637,205.17. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 257,162 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,450,653.14. This represents a 3.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Oliver Tuszik sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.53, for a total value of $952,950.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 131,676 shares in the company, valued at $8,365,376.28. The trade was a 10.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 97,335 shares of company stock worth $6,271,054. Insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Monday, June 16th. CICC Research initiated coverage on Cisco Systems in a research note on Monday, July 14th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $78.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Cisco Systems from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, New Street Research reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $70.35.

Cisco Systems Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of CSCO stock traded down $1.30 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $66.79. 2,724,325 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,085,338. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1 year low of $44.50 and a 1 year high of $69.78. The company's 50 day moving average is $66.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $62.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market cap of $264.47 billion, a PE ratio of 27.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.90.

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

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio is presently 66.94%.

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.