abrdn plc Raises Stock Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

abrdn plc raised its stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 15.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,559,687 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 744,433 shares during the period. Cisco Systems comprises approximately 0.6% of abrdn plc’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest position. abrdn plc owned approximately 0.14% of Cisco Systems worth $280,875,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vantage Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC now owns 257,521 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $13,010,000 after acquiring an additional 4,850 shares during the last quarter. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC now owns 128,174 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $6,476,000 after buying an additional 1,112 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Cisco Systems by 99.6% in the 4th quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 66,611 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,365,000 after buying an additional 33,237 shares during the period. Castle Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Cisco Systems by 26.4% in the 4th quarter. Castle Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,173 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,120,000 after acquiring an additional 4,633 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 801,572 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $40,496,000 after acquiring an additional 9,560 shares during the period. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

CSCO stock traded up $0.21 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $48.32. 20,964,433 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,323,960. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1-year low of $45.56 and a 1-year high of $58.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $49.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.25. The firm has a market cap of $195.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.69, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.87.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.03. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 23.49% and a return on equity of 33.01%. The business had revenue of $12.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.76 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 4th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 3rd. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is presently 48.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on CSCO shares. Barclays lifted their target price on Cisco Systems from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Friday, April 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $52.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $52.00 price objective on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.03.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 2,497 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $124,850.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 58,121 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,906,050. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Cisco Systems news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 2,497 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $124,850.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 58,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,906,050. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 3,002 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.01, for a total transaction of $150,130.02. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 191,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,579,865.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 19,441 shares of company stock worth $972,080 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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.