Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Stock Position Reduced by Kentucky Retirement Systems

Kentucky Retirement Systems cut its stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 1.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 272,618 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 4,238 shares during the period. Cisco Systems comprises approximately 0.5% of Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings, making the stock its 29th largest position. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $16,823,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new stake in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth approximately $603,000. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Cisco Systems by 49.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 74,187 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $4,392,000 after acquiring an additional 24,562 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Cisco Systems by 37.0% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,156 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $542,000 after acquiring an additional 2,474 shares in the last quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC grew its position in Cisco Systems by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 12,161 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $720,000 after acquiring an additional 714 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Indie Asset Partners LLC bought a new stake in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth approximately $213,000. 73.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on CSCO shares. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $72.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.11.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of Cisco Systems stock opened at $66.32 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $262.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $60.79. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.50 and a 12-month high of $66.65.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $14.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.05 billion. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 17.60% and a return on equity of 26.48%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.88 EPS. Research analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 8,726 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.54, for a total transaction of $571,902.04. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 174,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,447,806.26. This represents a 4.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.07, for a total transaction of $48,821.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 36,937 shares in the company, valued at $2,366,553.59. This trade represents a 2.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 97,335 shares of company stock valued at $6,271,054 in the last 90 days. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.