Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC Makes New $3.48 Million Investment in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 58,830 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,483,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of CSCO. Swedbank AB grew its stake in Cisco Systems by 0.6% during the third 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 during the period. Autumn Glory Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 29.4% during the 3rd quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC now owns 31,563 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,680,000 after buying an additional 7,176 shares in the last quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $874,000. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 20,819 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,165,000 after acquiring an additional 851 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Worth Financial Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Worth Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 5,930 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $316,000 after acquiring an additional 456 shares during the period. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 1.6 %

NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $64.27 on Wednesday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52 week low of $44.50 and a 52 week high of $66.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $60.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market cap of $255.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.84.

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

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.55%. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is presently 71.62%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Melius Research upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Cisco Systems from $57.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays raised their price objective on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven equities 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 MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kristina M. Johnson sold 7,500 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.87, for a total value of $449,025.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 65,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,946,331.05. The trade was a 10.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $2,060,025.03. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 736,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,413,489.20. This trade represents a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 74,848 shares of company stock valued at $4,767,206. 0.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.