Alley Investment Management Company LLC Raises Holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Alley Investment Management Company LLC increased its holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 107,590 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,159 shares during the period. Alley Investment Management Company LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $6,369,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its position 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 worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Cisco Systems in the third quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth approximately $49,000. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $63.48 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $252.54 billion, a PE ratio of 27.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.84. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $61.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12 month low of $44.50 and a 12 month high of $66.50.

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

Cisco Systems declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication 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 issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.58%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cisco Systems news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $2,060,025.03. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 736,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,413,489.20. This trade represents a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 11,808 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total value of $760,080.96. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 200,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,886,294.67. The trade was a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 74,848 shares of company stock valued at $4,767,206. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CSCO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Melius Research upgraded Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Cisco Systems from $57.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, 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 note on Thursday, February 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.63.

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.