Handelsbanken Fonder AB Buys 234,000 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 9.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,826,101 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 234,000 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems accounts for 0.7% of Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $174,399,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth approximately $132,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 76.4% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,947 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,003,000 after purchasing an additional 7,338 shares during the last quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario increased its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 44.6% in the fourth quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 193,478 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $11,454,000 after buying an additional 59,680 shares during the period. Aveo Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Cisco Systems by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,296 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $314,000 after buying an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlTi Global Inc. boosted its position in Cisco Systems by 49.8% during the 4th quarter. AlTi Global Inc. now owns 20,483 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,217,000 after buying an additional 6,811 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

CSCO stock opened at $65.90 on Tuesday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.50 and a 52-week high of $66.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $260.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.78, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.88. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $59.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $60.43.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.04. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 26.08% and a net margin of 16.96%. The business had revenue of $14.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the network equipment provider to buy up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total value of $125,345.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 191,184 shares in the company, valued at $11,604,868.80. This represents a 1.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Oliver Tuszik sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.53, for a total value of $952,950.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 131,676 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,365,376.28. This represents a 10.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 71,400 shares of company stock worth $4,564,439 in the last three months. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Citigroup upped their price target on Cisco Systems from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Cisco Systems from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $72.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.00.

Cisco Systems 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.