Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Acquires 2,551 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 94,320 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,551 shares during the quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $5,583,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of CSCO. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Cisco Systems by 76.7% in the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 599 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Cisco Systems in the third quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was 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 owns 736,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,413,489.20. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 586 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.69, for a total value of $34,392.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 50,767 shares in the company, valued at $2,979,515.23. This trade represents a 1.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 67,348 shares of company stock valued at $4,318,181 in the last quarter. 0.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on CSCO shares. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities raised Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com cut Cisco Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.63.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ CSCO opened at $63.41 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $252.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.69, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $61.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $57.25. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $44.50 and a fifty-two week high of $66.50.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released 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 net margin of 16.96% and a return on equity of 26.08%. Sell-side analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the network equipment provider to purchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio 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.