Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG Has $1.62 Million Stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lowered its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 27,480 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 340 shares during the quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $1,620,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CSCO. Highline Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Cisco Systems by 76.7% in the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 599 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the third quarter worth $40,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Cisco Systems in the 3rd quarter worth $51,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter worth about $56,000. Institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ CSCO opened at $64.87 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $258.36 billion, a PE ratio of 27.84, a P/E/G ratio of 4.63 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.88. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $59.97 and a 200-day moving average of $55.42. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.50 and a 52-week high of $66.50.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued 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 return on equity of 25.70% and a net margin of 17.73%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 2.97 EPS for the current 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 company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.53%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.67%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 21,230 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were 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 directly owns 213,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,203,506.38. The trade was a 9.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 4,881 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.73, for a total value of $291,542.13. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 51,931 shares in the company, valued at $3,101,838.63. This represents a 8.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 37,239 shares of company stock valued at $2,166,612. 0.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CSCO has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays upped their price target on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $57.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $66.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.