AM Squared Ltd Invests $152,000 in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

AM Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,900 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $152,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CSCO. Steward Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems during the first quarter worth $32,000. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Carmel Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems during the first quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Tucker Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems during the first quarter worth $35,000. 72.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In other news, COO Maria Martinez sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.88, for a total value of $508,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 414,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,065,999.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 2,158 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.15, for a total transaction of $119,013.70. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 173,618 shares in the company, valued at $9,575,032.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Maria Martinez sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.88, for a total value of $508,800.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 414,033 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,065,999.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 51,210 shares of company stock valued at $2,767,284 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $56.39 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $229.79 billion, a PE ratio of 18.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The business has a 50-day moving average of $53.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.01. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.60 and a 12 month high of $58.19.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 16th. The network equipment provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.08. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 33.42% and a net margin of 22.13%. The company had revenue of $15.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.74 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 4th will be given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 3rd. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is 50.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Raymond James boosted their target price on Cisco Systems from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. Barclays boosted their price target on Cisco Systems from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 17th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $58.00 price target on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, August 17th. 51job reissued an “initiates” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Friday, June 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Cisco Systems from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $59.23.

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 that are standalone, controller appliance-based, switch-converged, and Meraki cloud-managed offerings; and compute portfolio including the cisco unified computing system, hyperflex, and software management capabilities, which combine computing, networking, and storage infrastructure management and virtualization.