Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Position Lowered by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System trimmed its position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,883,366 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 339,361 shares during the period. Cisco Systems accounts for about 0.6% of California Public Employees Retirement System’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.37% of Cisco Systems worth $881,095,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CSCO. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $132,000. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 3rd quarter worth about $798,000. HighVista Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,698,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 93,357 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,527,000 after buying an additional 10,813 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Cisco Systems by 76.4% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,947 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,003,000 after acquiring an additional 7,338 shares during the period. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Cisco Systems stock opened at $60.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The company has a market cap of $242.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $44.50 and a fifty-two week high of $66.50. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.54.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is presently 71.62%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $66.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Citigroup reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Cisco Systems has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In related news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $2,060,025.03. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 44,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,693,013.45. This represents a 1.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 66,547 shares of company stock worth $4,275,553. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Cisco Systems

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.