Impax Asset Management Group plc Reduces Stock Holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Impax Asset Management Group plc cut its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 9.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 165,880 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 17,299 shares during the quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $9,820,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth approximately $207,000. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC increased its holdings in Cisco Systems by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 181,493 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $10,744,000 after purchasing an additional 5,941 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in Cisco Systems by 63.6% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 108,671 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $6,433,000 after purchasing an additional 42,248 shares during the last quarter. Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV increased its holdings in Cisco Systems by 35.3% during the 4th quarter. Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV now owns 3,084 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $183,000 after purchasing an additional 805 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mainstay Capital Management LLC ADV increased its holdings in Cisco Systems by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Mainstay Capital Management LLC ADV now owns 38,737 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $2,293,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cisco Systems Stock Down 1.2 %

CSCO opened at $63.24 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $60.75 and its 200-day moving average is $56.42. The company has a market capitalization of $251.59 billion, a PE ratio of 27.62, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.84. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $44.50 and a one year high of $66.50.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its 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 26.08% and a net margin of 16.96%. On average, equities analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. 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 2.59%. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is 69.87%.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In other news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 4,881 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.73, for a total transaction of $291,542.13. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 51,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,101,838.63. The trade was a 8.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 3,042 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.19, for a total value of $180,055.98. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 207,798 shares in the company, valued at $12,299,563.62. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 79,729 shares of company stock valued at $5,058,748 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Cisco Systems from $57.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Melius Research upgraded Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. 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.com, Cisco Systems currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.53.

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.