Teacher Retirement System of Texas Buys 216,416 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 9.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,527,760 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 216,416 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems makes up about 0.5% of Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned approximately 0.06% of Cisco Systems worth $149,643,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Financial Bankshares Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. First Financial Bankshares Inc now owns 991,581 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $58,702,000 after buying an additional 4,504 shares during the period. Generali Investments Management Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,635,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in Cisco Systems by 27.2% in the fourth quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 237,564 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $14,050,000 after acquiring an additional 50,841 shares during the period. Stokes Family Office LLC grew its holdings in Cisco Systems by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC now owns 53,576 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $3,172,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Finally, North Forty Two & Co. purchased a new position in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at about $492,000. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total transaction of $125,345.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 191,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,604,868.80. This represents a 1.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.99, for a total transaction of $46,474.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 66,547 shares of company stock valued at $4,275,553 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $61.12 on Thursday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $44.50 and a twelve month high of $66.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a market cap of $243.15 billion, a PE ratio of 26.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79. The company’s 50 day moving average is $61.89 and its 200 day moving average is $57.97.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the network equipment provider to reacquire up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is 71.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Melius raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Seven investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.63.

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.