Versor Investments LP Purchases Shares of 5,300 Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Versor Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 5,300 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $314,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CSCO. Motiv8 Investments LLC boosted its stake in Cisco Systems by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC now owns 20,999 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,243,000 after buying an additional 3,052 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 10,340.6% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,003,235 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $59,392,000 after acquiring an additional 993,626 shares in the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 24,665 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,460,000 after acquiring an additional 3,918 shares during the last quarter. WT Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 59.6% in the fourth quarter. WT Wealth Management now owns 8,760 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $519,000 after purchasing an additional 3,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gulf International Bank UK Ltd increased its position in Cisco Systems by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 319,474 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $18,912,000 after purchasing an additional 3,192 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ CSCO opened at $63.48 on Tuesday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.50 and a 52-week high of $66.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $252.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.72, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $61.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.91 by ($0.14). Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 26.08% and a net margin of 16.96%. Sell-side analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the network equipment provider to repurchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.62%.

Insider Activity

In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 3,042 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.19, for a total transaction of $180,055.98. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 207,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,299,563.62. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 586 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.69, for a total transaction of $34,392.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 50,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,979,515.23. The trade was a 1.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 74,848 shares of company stock worth $4,767,206. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on CSCO shares. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $72.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Cisco Systems from $57.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cisco Systems presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.63.

About Cisco Systems

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.