Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Bought by Horizon Investments LLC

Horizon Investments LLC increased its position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 81,306 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,280 shares during the period. Horizon Investments LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $4,781,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CSCO. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 764,598 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $45,264,000 after acquiring an additional 15,746 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 3,623,066 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $214,377,000 after purchasing an additional 441,128 shares during the last quarter. Custos Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth $217,000. Taylor Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at $211,000. Finally, PDS Planning Inc increased its stake in Cisco Systems by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 20,187 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,195,000 after acquiring an additional 1,092 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 19,929 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $1,283,626.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 335,605 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,616,318.05. The trade was a 5.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.99, for a total value of $46,474.38. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 44,155 shares in the company, valued at $2,693,013.45. This trade represents a 1.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,547 shares of company stock valued at $4,275,553 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CSCO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Melius raised Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Melius Research upgraded Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.63.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

CSCO opened at $60.89 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $61.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.88. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $44.50 and a fifty-two week high of $66.50. The firm has a market cap of $242.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 26.08% and a net margin of 16.96%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan 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 buy up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.