NEOS Investment Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

NEOS Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 15.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 479,274 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 65,788 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems comprises approximately 0.7% of NEOS Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. NEOS Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $28,373,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Avestar Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 19,984 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,064,000 after acquiring an additional 1,531 shares during the last quarter. Cadence Bank lifted its position in Cisco Systems by 0.4% during the third quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 197,604 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $10,516,000 after purchasing an additional 828 shares during the last quarter. Insight Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Insight Wealth Partners LLC now owns 17,801 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $947,000 after buying an additional 1,118 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 108.7% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 3,582,670 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $190,670,000 after buying an additional 1,865,730 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 28.9% during the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 91,172 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,852,000 after buying an additional 20,458 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ CSCO opened at $61.80 on Thursday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.50 and a 52-week high of $66.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $245.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.99, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $62.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.87.

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

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.65%. 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 71.62%.

Cisco Systems declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the network equipment provider to reacquire up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Melius upgraded Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. DZ Bank upgraded Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Melius Research upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.63.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 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 $2,060,025.03. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 736,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,413,489.20. This trade represents a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total transaction of $125,345.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 191,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,604,868.80. This represents a 1.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 66,547 shares of company stock worth $4,275,553. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.