Advisors Capital Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Advisors Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 985,526 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 28,000 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems makes up about 0.9% of Advisors Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Advisors Capital Management LLC's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $58,343,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $132,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Cisco Systems by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 93,357 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $5,527,000 after purchasing an additional 10,813 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 76.4% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,947 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $1,003,000 after buying an additional 7,338 shares during the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $502,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Cisco Systems by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 18,718,195 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $1,107,930,000 after buying an additional 216,632 shares during the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CSCO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Cisco Systems from $72.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Melius Research upgraded Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Cisco Systems from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $72.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $65.74.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CSCO traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $57.41. 15,657,094 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,097,317. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a one year low of $44.50 and a one year high of $66.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $228.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.07, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.86. The company's 50 day moving average is $61.19 and its 200 day moving average is $59.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.91 by ($0.14). Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 26.08% and a net margin of 16.96%. On average, research analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This is a boost from Cisco Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. Cisco Systems's payout ratio is 71.62%.

Cisco Systems declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to buyback $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the network equipment provider to repurchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total value of $125,345.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 191,184 shares in the company, valued at $11,604,868.80. This trade represents a 1.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.99, for a total value of $46,474.38. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 44,155 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,693,013.45. This trade represents a 1.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,547 shares of company stock valued at $4,275,553 in the last 90 days. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Cisco Systems Company 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.