Sunpointe LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Sunpointe LLC lifted its position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 66.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,076 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,614 shares during the quarter. Sunpointe LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $537,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.6% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 9,029,594 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $480,555,000 after acquiring an additional 52,711 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Cisco Systems by 6.2% in the third quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 25,699 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,368,000 after purchasing an additional 1,505 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Cisco Systems by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 132,793 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $7,067,000 after purchasing an additional 9,842 shares during the period. Metropolis Capital Ltd increased its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. Metropolis Capital Ltd now owns 4,866,136 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $258,976,000 after purchasing an additional 575,955 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stanley Laman Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 9,695 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $516,000 after buying an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $64.84 on Thursday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.50 and a 52-week high of $66.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $60.43 and a 200 day moving average of $55.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $258.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.31, a P/E/G ratio of 4.55 and a beta of 0.84.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 16.96% and a return on equity of 26.08%. On average, research analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is currently 69.87%.

Cisco Systems declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the network equipment provider to reacquire up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CSCO. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $57.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. BNP Paribas raised Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $72.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Melius upgraded Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.53.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In other news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 4,881 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.73, for a total transaction of $291,542.13. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 51,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,101,838.63. This represents a 8.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 19,929 shares of the business’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 value of $1,283,626.89. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 335,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,616,318.05. The trade was a 5.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 67,921 shares of company stock valued at $4,298,667 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Company 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.