DnB Asset Management AS Lowers Holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

DnB Asset Management AS cut its stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,106,128 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 5,839 shares during the quarter. DnB Asset Management AS owned about 0.05% of Cisco Systems worth $124,683,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,297,905,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth $560,722,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 327.5% during the third 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 in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 79.6% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 8,971,494 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $477,463,000 after buying an additional 3,975,028 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings in Cisco Systems by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 193,489,477 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $10,297,506,000 after buying an additional 3,241,682 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CSCO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Cisco Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 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 issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.99, for a total transaction of $46,474.38. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 44,155 shares in the company, valued at $2,693,013.45. This represents a 1.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 191,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,604,868.80. This trade represents a 1.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,547 shares of company stock worth $4,275,553 over the last 90 days. 0.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

CSCO stock opened at $61.40 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $244.27 billion, a PE ratio of 26.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $62.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.38. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a one year low of $44.50 and a one year high of $66.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 16.96% and a return on equity of 26.08%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.62%.

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

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.