Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC Sells 28,706 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. $CSCO

Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 51.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,188 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 28,706 shares during the quarter. Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $1,860,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,816,825,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 413.3% during the second quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 22,393,371 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,553,645,000 after acquiring an additional 18,030,441 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Cisco Systems by 46.2% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 40,836,858 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,833,261,000 after purchasing an additional 12,904,969 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 6,778.2% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,810,012 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $472,479,000 after acquiring an additional 6,711,004 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Cisco Systems by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 393,989,568 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $27,334,996,000 after purchasing an additional 5,039,714 shares during the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on CSCO shares. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. BNP Paribas Exane increased their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Melius Research increased their target price on Cisco Systems from $84.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Argus upgraded shares of Cisco Systems to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Cisco Systems from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.55.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cisco Systems news, Director Kristina M. Johnson sold 13,481 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.13, for a total value of $1,039,789.53. Following the sale, the director directly owned 61,630 shares in the company, valued at $4,753,521.90. This trade represents a 17.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 2,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.74, for a total transaction of $169,395.46. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 28,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,239,456.18. This represents a 7.03% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 75,677 shares of company stock worth $5,811,211. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Down 3.1%

Shares of NASDAQ CSCO opened at $76.21 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $301.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1 year low of $52.11 and a 1 year high of $88.18. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.25.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The network equipment provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $15.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.11 billion. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 19.22% and a return on equity of 27.88%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.94 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 2nd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.54%.

Cisco Systems Profile

Cisco Systems, Inc is a global technology company that designs, manufactures and sells networking hardware, software and telecommunications equipment. Its core business focuses on enabling enterprise and service-provider networks through products such as routers, switches, network security appliances and wireless systems. Over time Cisco has broadened its portfolio to emphasize software-defined networking, cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure and edge computing solutions that help organizations build and manage modern IT environments.

In addition to hardware, Cisco offers a growing range of software platforms and subscription services for network management, security, analytics and collaboration.