Howard Capital Management Inc. Has $298,000 Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Howard Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 6.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,275 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 396 shares during the quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $298,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CSCO. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at $2,528,939,000. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 1st quarter valued at about $840,538,000. FIL Ltd increased its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 47.1% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 18,922,422 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $955,961,000 after buying an additional 6,054,748 shares during the period. Natixis raised its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 438.4% during the first quarter. Natixis now owns 4,924,988 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $245,806,000 after acquiring an additional 4,010,228 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 29.0% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 17,727,214 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $895,576,000 after acquiring an additional 3,989,543 shares during the period. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 27,143 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.45, for a total value of $1,342,221.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 683,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,794,278.35. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Cisco Systems news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 27,143 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.45, for a total value of $1,342,221.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 683,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,794,278.35. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 3,379 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.36, for a total value of $170,166.44. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 47,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,376,085.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 71,944 shares of company stock valued at $3,566,120. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Cisco Systems Stock Down 1.3 %

CSCO stock opened at $48.50 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $195.40 billion, a PE ratio of 16.33, a P/E/G ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 0.83. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $47.84 and its 200-day moving average is $47.94. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $44.50 and a twelve month high of $57.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.02. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 19.18% and a return on equity of 27.83%. The company had revenue of $13.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 2.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 2nd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on CSCO shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Cisco Systems to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Despite investors’ hopes for a rebound in Networking Equipment demand to boost Cisco’s fourth-quarter 2024 performance, the anticipation is tempered by limited indications of a significant recovery in demand. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.89.

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.