Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 295,145 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 5,420 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems accounts for about 1.2% of Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $17,473,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth $132,000. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the third quarter valued at about $798,000. HighVista Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the third quarter worth about $1,698,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 93,357 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $5,527,000 after purchasing an additional 10,813 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Cisco Systems by 76.4% in 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. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on CSCO. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Barclays reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Melius Research raised Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group upped their target price on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, DZ Bank raised Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $66.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cisco Systems news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.99, for a total value of $46,474.38. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 44,155 shares in the company, valued at $2,693,013.45. The trade was a 1.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 11,808 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total transaction of $760,080.96. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 200,191 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,886,294.67. This represents a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 66,547 shares of company stock valued at $4,275,553. Insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

CSCO traded up $0.81 on Wednesday, hitting $61.80. 30,617,380 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,078,896. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $44.50 and a fifty-two week high of $66.50. The stock has a market cap of $245.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.99, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $62.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.91 by ($0.14). Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 26.08% and a net margin of 16.96%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.41 per share. This is an increase from Cisco Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.62%.

Cisco Systems announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the network equipment provider to purchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

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 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.