Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,964,731 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after selling 180,361 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of Cisco Systems worth $293,912,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 76.7% during the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 599 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the period. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the third quarter worth $40,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth $49,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems during the third quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems during the third quarter worth about $56,000. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of CSCO traded up $0.26 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $64.93. 4,088,757 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,316,438. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $258.31 billion, a PE ratio of 28.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.84. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $60.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.01. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.50 and a 52-week high of $66.50.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

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

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. This is an increase from Cisco Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 3,042 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.19, for a total transaction of $180,055.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 207,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,299,563.62. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 586 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.69, for a total value of $34,392.34. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 50,767 shares in the company, valued at $2,979,515.23. The trade was a 1.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 67,921 shares of company stock worth $4,298,667. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CSCO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $57.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of Cisco Systems from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Cisco Systems from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $72.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $66.53.

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.