Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Purchases 594,146 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 52.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,727,555 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 594,146 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $102,099,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich raised its holdings in Cisco Systems by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich now owns 35,175 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $2,082,000 after buying an additional 659 shares during the last quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. boosted its stake in Cisco Systems by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 21,080 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,248,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Kentucky Trust Co bought a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,195,000. TFB Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $253,000. Finally, Capital Advisors Inc. OK raised its position in Cisco Systems by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 736,011 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $43,572,000 after buying an additional 7,736 shares during the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In related news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 586 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.69, for a total value of $34,392.34. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 50,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,979,515.23. This represents a 1.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 3,042 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $12,299,563.62. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 353,522 shares of company stock valued at $20,349,721. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of CSCO opened at $62.53 on Thursday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.50 and a 52-week high of $63.25. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $59.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $249.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.63 and a beta of 0.84.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 25.70% and a net margin of 17.73%. Research analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.41 per share. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.62%. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is 68.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on CSCO. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays increased their price target on Cisco Systems from $49.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Cisco Systems from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $55.00 to $66.00 in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Cisco Systems has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.72.

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.