Cisco Systems, Inc. $CSCO Stock Position Raised by Willis Investment Counsel

Willis Investment Counsel boosted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 833,033 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,770 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems makes up approximately 3.3% of Willis Investment Counsel’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Willis Investment Counsel’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $64,169,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northstar Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Northstar Advisory Group LLC now owns 8,203 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $632,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. Green Alpha Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Green Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 12,349 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $951,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,449 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $715,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY raised its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY now owns 24,622 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,685,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. Finally, Yoder Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Yoder Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,945 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $270,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In other news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 19,545 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.00, for a total value of $1,485,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 671,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,003,220. This represents a 2.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 2,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 28,807 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,239,456.18. The trade was a 7.03% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 46,431 shares of company stock valued at $3,574,820. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CSCO. Argus raised shares of Cisco Systems to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 target price on the stock. President Capital lowered their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $90.00 to $88.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 24th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Erste Group Bank cut shares of Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Four 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.76.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 3.7%

Cisco Systems stock opened at $83.70 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $330.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.37, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.83. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $52.67 and a fifty-two week high of $88.18. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $79.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.96.

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

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 2nd. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is currently 58.95%.

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.