Mizuho Securities USA LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 44.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 377,784 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 116,537 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $22,365,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CSCO. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in Cisco Systems by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 9,029,594 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $480,555,000 after purchasing an additional 52,711 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $16,798,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 682,132 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $36,303,000 after buying an additional 37,424 shares during the period. Lathrop Investment Management Corp raised its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Lathrop Investment Management Corp now owns 214,557 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $11,419,000 after buying an additional 1,932 shares during the period. Finally, First County Bank CT raised its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. First County Bank CT now owns 21,805 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,160,000 after buying an additional 1,055 shares during the period. 73.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of Cisco Systems 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 736,120 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,413,489.20. The trade was a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 191,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,604,868.80. The trade was a 1.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,547 shares of company stock worth $4,275,553 in the last ninety days. 0.01% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Melius upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $66.00 to $73.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.63.

Cisco Systems Stock Down 0.5 %

Cisco Systems stock opened at $60.30 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $61.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.05. The stock has a market cap of $239.89 billion, a PE ratio of 26.33, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1-year low of $44.50 and a 1-year high of $66.50. 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 (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the network equipment provider to reacquire up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.72%. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. 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.