235,311 Shares in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Purchased by Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC

Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 235,311 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,393,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CSCO. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 20.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 77,216,513 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,571,218,000 after acquiring an additional 13,285,052 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,297,905,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 47,238,258 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $2,796,505,000 after buying an additional 4,832,813 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 29,419,041 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,741,597,000 after acquiring an additional 681,555 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 17,161,261 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,015,948,000 after acquiring an additional 1,943,563 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

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 dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $47,413,489.20. This represents a 4.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 19,929 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $1,283,626.89. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 335,605 shares in the company, valued at $21,616,318.05. This represents a 5.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 66,547 shares of company stock worth $4,275,553. 0.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Cisco Systems from $73.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. DZ Bank raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Cisco Systems from $72.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Seven research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.05.

Cisco Systems Stock Up 0.1%

CSCO opened at $59.77 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.47. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12 month low of $44.50 and a 12 month high of $66.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $237.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.10, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.89. 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 released its quarterly 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 return on equity of 26.08% and a net margin of 16.96%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program 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 buy up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd were paid a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.74%. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.62%.

Cisco Systems Company 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.