Viking Fund Management LLC Lowers Stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. $CSCO

Key Points

• Viking Fund Management LLC reduced its stake in Cisco Systems by 66.7% in the second quarter, selling 30,000 shares and currently holding 15,000 shares valued at approximately $1,041,000.
• Following recent insider sales, including one from Jeetendra I. Patel of 9,061 shares at around $66.60 per share, insiders have collectively sold 65,439 shares valued at over $4.3 million in the last quarter.
• Several analysts have upgraded Cisco's stock rating, with Bank of America raising its target price from $76.00 to $85.00, indicating a positive outlook for the company.

Viking Fund Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 66.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,000 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after selling 30,000 shares during the period. Viking Fund Management LLC's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $1,041,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CSCO. Pandora Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in 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 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Fairway Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 224.7% in the 1st quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 578 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems in the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Investment Management Corp VA ADV grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 145.3% during the first quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV now owns 596 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cisco Systems Stock Down 0.4%

Cisco Systems stock traded down $0.25 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $67.51. 4,974,149 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,079,121. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $52.01 and a 52-week high of $72.55. 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 business's 50-day moving average price is $68.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $266.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.99.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.01. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 27.06% 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $0.87 EPS. The company'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. On average, research analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 22nd. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio is 62.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CSCO. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $65.00 to $73.00 in a report on Monday, June 16th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. HSBC reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $69.00 target price on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Friday, August 15th. UBS Group lifted their price target 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $74.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Oliver Tuszik sold 17,526 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.95, for a total value of $1,190,891.70. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 198,855 shares in the company, valued at $13,512,197.25. This represents a 8.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 428 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.25, for a total transaction of $29,211.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 30,619 shares in the company, valued at $2,089,746.75. This trade represents a 1.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 82,965 shares of company stock valued at $5,559,996. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.