Carret Asset Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Carret Asset Management LLC reduced its position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 190,145 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,109 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems accounts for about 1.2% of Carret Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Carret Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $11,257,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Renasant Bank boosted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Renasant Bank now owns 9,663 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $572,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003 shares during the period. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at about $197,000. LBP AM SA boosted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 942,388 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $55,789,000 after acquiring an additional 109,445 shares during the period. Integras Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,770,000. Finally, Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at about $698,000. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In other news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total value of $125,345.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 have sold a total of 66,547 shares of company stock worth $4,275,553 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. DZ Bank raised Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. BNP Paribas raised Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $72.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.63.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of CSCO opened at $59.67 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $57.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12 month low of $44.50 and a 12 month high of $66.50. The company has a market cap of $237.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.06, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the network equipment provider to repurchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a $0.41 dividend. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.62%.

Cisco Systems 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.