Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 113.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,191 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,891 shares during the period. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $544,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Cisco Systems by 20.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 77,216,513 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $4,571,218,000 after purchasing an additional 13,285,052 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at $3,297,905,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 18,718,195 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $1,107,930,000 after acquiring an additional 216,632 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Cisco Systems by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,214,461 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $988,499,000 after acquiring an additional 1,195,469 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in Cisco Systems by 18.0% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 13,880,257 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $821,711,000 after purchasing an additional 2,114,994 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company's stock.

Cisco Systems Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Cisco Systems stock traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $55.73. The stock had a trading volume of 15,874,222 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,121,737. The firm has a market cap of $221.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $60.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $59.06. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.50 and a 12-month high of $66.50.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 16.96% and a return on equity of 26.08%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the network equipment provider to purchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.94%. This is a boost from Cisco Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems's payout ratio is 71.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cisco Systems news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $2,060,025.03. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 736,120 shares in the company, valued at $47,413,489.20. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 19,929 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $1,283,626.89. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 335,605 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,616,318.05. This trade represents a 5.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 66,547 shares of company stock valued at $4,275,553 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on CSCO shares. BNP Paribas raised Cisco Systems from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $72.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Barclays reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, March 6th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $72.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $65.58.

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.