Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Acquires 594,146 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 52.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,727,555 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 594,146 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $102,099,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in Cisco Systems by 57.7% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 5,126 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $273,000 after buying an additional 1,876 shares in the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $58,000. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 1,155,964 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $60,979,000 after acquiring an additional 38,000 shares during the period. Swedbank AB boosted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 9,029,594 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $480,555,000 after acquiring an additional 52,711 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Cisco Systems by 5.7% in the third quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 287,979 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $15,424,000 after acquiring an additional 15,489 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of CSCO opened at $62.53 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $59.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.31. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12 month low of $44.50 and a 12 month high of $63.25. The company has a market capitalization of $249.04 billion, a PE ratio of 26.84, a PEG ratio of 4.63 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by ($0.14). Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 25.70% and a net margin of 17.73%. On average, analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 2.97 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the network equipment provider to buy up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.41 per share. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is 68.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 4,881 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 51,931 shares in the company, valued at $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 is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 21,230 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.07, for a total value of $1,211,596.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 213,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,203,506.38. The trade was a 9.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 353,522 shares of company stock valued at $20,349,721 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CSCO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Melius raised Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $66.00 to $73.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays raised their price objective on Cisco Systems from $49.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Melius Research upgraded Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.72.

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.