Cisco Systems, Inc. $CSCO Shares Sold by South Dakota Investment Council

South Dakota Investment Council cut its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 8.1% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 305,830 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 27,090 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $20,925,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 2nd quarter worth about $3,816,825,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its stake in Cisco Systems by 413.3% during the 2nd quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 22,393,371 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,553,645,000 after purchasing an additional 18,030,441 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 46.2% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 40,836,858 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $2,833,261,000 after buying an additional 12,904,969 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 6,711,004 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Cisco Systems by 1.3% in 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 buying an additional 5,039,714 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In other news, insider Jeetendra I. Patel sold 11,248 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.00, for a total transaction of $854,848.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 262,776 shares in the company, valued at $19,970,976. This represents a 4.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 2,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.74, for a total value of $169,395.46. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 28,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,239,456.18. This trade represents a 7.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 75,677 shares of company stock valued at $5,811,211 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $79.42 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $77.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market cap of $313.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.87. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $52.11 and a 12-month high of $88.18.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The network equipment provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $15.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.11 billion. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 19.22% and a return on equity of 27.88%. Cisco Systems’s revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.94 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 2nd will be given a $0.42 dividend. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 2nd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is 58.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CSCO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Cisco Systems from $83.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Cisco Systems from $70.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Cisco Systems has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.55.

Cisco Systems Company 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.