OFI Invest Asset Management Makes New $24 Million Investment in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 419,782 shares of the network equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $23,999,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth about $132,000. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems in the 3rd quarter worth about $798,000. HighVista Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,698,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $5,527,000 after acquiring an additional 10,813 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems in the 3rd quarter worth about $502,000. 73.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 736,120 shares in the company, valued at $47,413,489.20. This trade represents a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 3,042 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.19, for a total value of $180,055.98. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 207,798 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,299,563.62. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 67,348 shares of company stock worth $4,318,181 in the last 90 days. 0.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Melius Research raised Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America upped their target price on Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Citigroup reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised Cisco Systems from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $66.63.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of CSCO stock traded up $0.53 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $63.94. The stock had a trading volume of 21,153,303 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,042,023. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $61.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a one year low of $44.50 and a one year high of $66.50. The firm has a market cap of $254.37 billion, a PE ratio of 27.92, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last posted 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, analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the network equipment provider to repurchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.56%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This is an increase from Cisco Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.62%.

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.