Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its position in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,265,400 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 64,165 shares during the quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned about 0.06% of Cisco Systems worth $134,112,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Campbell Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 76.7% in the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 599 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. 73.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of research firms have weighed in on CSCO. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Cisco Systems from $73.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. 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 report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Cisco Systems from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $64.68.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on CSCO
Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems
In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total transaction of $125,345.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 191,184 shares in the company, valued at $11,604,868.80. This represents a 1.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 736,120 shares of the company's stock, valued at $47,413,489.20. The trade was a 4.16 % decrease in their position. 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 quarter. 0.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Cisco Systems Price Performance
Shares of NASDAQ:CSCO traded up $1.14 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $56.18. 15,085,331 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,108,574. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.50 and a 52-week high of $66.50. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $60.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.16. The company has a market cap of $223.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.53, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.86.
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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.91 by ($0.14). Cisco Systems had a net margin of 16.96% and a return on equity of 26.08%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.
Cisco Systems Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. This is an increase from Cisco Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.62%.
Cisco Systems declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the network equipment provider to buy up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.
About Cisco Systems
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Free Report)
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.
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