Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Buys New Shares in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,370,123 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $81,178,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quarry LP raised its stake in Cisco Systems by 92.3% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,271 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 610 shares during the period. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the third quarter worth approximately $333,000. Taika Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 3rd quarter worth $730,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its position in Cisco Systems by 327.5% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 6,819,000 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $362,907,000 after purchasing an additional 5,223,800 shares during the period. Finally, Weaver Consulting Group increased its stake in Cisco Systems by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Weaver Consulting Group now owns 9,841 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $524,000 after purchasing an additional 629 shares in the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on CSCO shares. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. BNP Paribas raised Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $72.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com cut Cisco Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Melius Research raised Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Seven research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Cisco Systems currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.63.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.99, for a total value of $46,474.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 44,155 shares in the company, valued at $2,693,013.45. This trade represents a 1.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total value of $125,345.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 191,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,604,868.80. This represents a 1.07 % 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 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Down 4.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ CSCO opened at $54.54 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $216.98 billion, a PE ratio of 23.82, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.86. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a one year low of $44.50 and a one year high of $66.50. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $61.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.81.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its earnings results 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, equities research analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.01%. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.62%.

Cisco Systems announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the network equipment provider to buy up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.