O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Has $35.23 Million Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 22.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 595,010 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 109,526 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $35,225,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $132,000. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the third quarter valued at $798,000. HighVista Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,698,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Cisco Systems by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 93,357 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,527,000 after buying an additional 10,813 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Cisco Systems by 76.4% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,947 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,003,000 after acquiring an additional 7,338 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CSCO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. UBS Group upped 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. Rosenblatt Securities raised Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Cisco Systems currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.63.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 19,929 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $1,283,626.89. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 335,605 shares in the company, valued at $21,616,318.05. This represents a 5.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $2,060,025.03. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 736,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,413,489.20. This trade represents a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 66,547 shares of company stock worth $4,275,553 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ CSCO opened at $60.86 on Friday. 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 company’s 50 day moving average price is $62.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.54. The company has a market capitalization of $242.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by ($0.14). Cisco Systems had a net margin of 16.96% and a return on equity of 26.08%. Equities analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.62%.

Cisco Systems announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the network equipment provider to reacquire up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.