Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Bought by National Pension Service

National Pension Service grew its position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 8,916,569 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 532,749 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned about 0.22% of Cisco Systems worth $527,861,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Pflug Koory LLC lifted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Pflug Koory LLC now owns 33,026 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,955,000 after buying an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Fairhaven Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Fairhaven Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,581 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $449,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Cisco Systems by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Pathway Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,791 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC now owns 10,591 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $627,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 31,744 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,879,000 after buying an additional 178 shares during the period. 73.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

Shares of CSCO opened at $64.27 on Wednesday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1-year low of $44.50 and a 1-year high of $66.50. The company has a market cap of $255.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.07, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.56. 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) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program 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 purchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued 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 2.55%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is currently 71.62%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 586 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.69, for a total value of $34,392.34. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 50,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,979,515.23. This represents a 1.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the 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 $2,060,025.03. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 736,120 shares in the company, valued at $47,413,489.20. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 74,848 shares of company stock valued at $4,767,206 over the last ninety days. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on CSCO. Melius upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective 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. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.53.

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.