Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Acquired by Essex Financial Services Inc.

Essex Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 74,350 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $3,756,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 3.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 57,102,221 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,069,815,000 after acquiring an additional 1,790,717 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 3.8% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 50,549,422 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,717,537,000 after acquiring an additional 1,847,682 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 3.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 33,536,256 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,802,909,000 after acquiring an additional 1,181,327 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 25.0% in the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 18,750,237 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $947,262,000 after acquiring an additional 3,753,165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 3.7% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,376,937 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $611,624,000 after acquiring an additional 405,699 shares during the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of Cisco Systems stock traded up $0.13 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $47.11. 6,553,530 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,092,199. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1 year low of $45.56 and a 1 year high of $58.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The business has a 50-day moving average of $48.90 and a 200-day moving average of $49.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $190.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.87.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.03. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 33.01% and a net margin of 23.49%. The firm had revenue of $12.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.76 earnings per share. Cisco Systems’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 4th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 3rd. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on CSCO shares. Melius Research reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Cisco Systems from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Cisco Systems from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Cisco Systems from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 13,942 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $697,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 328,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,424,550. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Cisco Systems news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 13,942 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $697,100.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 328,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,424,550. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 2,497 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $124,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 58,121 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,906,050. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 19,441 shares of company stock valued at $972,080 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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.