apricus wealth LLC Increases Stock Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

apricus wealth LLC raised its holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 1.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 54,476 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 636 shares during the period. Cisco Systems accounts for approximately 2.0% of apricus wealth LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. apricus wealth LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $3,362,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CSCO. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 77,216,513 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,571,218,000 after buying an additional 13,285,052 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,297,905,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 47,238,258 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,796,505,000 after buying an additional 4,832,813 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 36,471,275 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,159,099,000 after buying an additional 2,637,006 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 29,419,041 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,741,597,000 after buying an additional 681,555 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

CSCO opened at $64.19 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $60.49. The firm has a market cap of $254.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.03, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.88. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $44.50 and a twelve month high of $66.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

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

Cisco Systems declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the network equipment provider to repurchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.55%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is 66.94%.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 4,185 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.51, for a total transaction of $265,789.35. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,103 shares in the company, valued at $2,419,921.53. This represents a 9.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Oliver Tuszik sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.53, for a total transaction of $952,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 131,676 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,365,376.28. The trade was a 10.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 68,573 shares of company stock valued at $4,392,619. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. New Street Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Friday, May 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.00.

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.