MetLife Investment Management LLC Has $62.46 Million Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,055,143 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 7,068 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $62,464,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,297,905,000. FMR LLC grew its stake in Cisco Systems by 20.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 77,216,513 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $4,571,218,000 after acquiring an additional 13,285,052 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $560,722,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 143.2% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,986,627 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $295,208,000 after purchasing an additional 2,936,567 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 50.3% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 6,627,956 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $392,375,000 after purchasing an additional 2,219,311 shares in the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on CSCO shares. Melius upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $73.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Cisco Systems from $72.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Cisco Systems from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $66.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $65.58.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.99, for a total value of $46,474.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 44,155 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,693,013.45. The trade was a 1.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 19,929 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were 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 owns 335,605 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,616,318.05. This trade represents a 5.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,547 shares of company stock valued at $4,275,553 in the last quarter. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

NASDAQ CSCO opened at $55.73 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $221.69 billion, a PE ratio of 24.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.86. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52 week low of $44.50 and a 52 week high of $66.50. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $60.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.08.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. Research analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. This is an increase from Cisco Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.62%.

Cisco Systems announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan 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 reacquire up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.

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