Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Sells 350 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. decreased its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 148,669 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 350 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $8,801,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter valued at $16,798,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 51.7% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 18,664 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $993,000 after purchasing an additional 6,357 shares during the last quarter. Cahill Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the third quarter worth $243,000. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Cisco Systems by 19.9% during the 3rd quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC now owns 19,939 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,061,000 after buying an additional 3,309 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Hawaii grew its holdings in Cisco Systems by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Hawaii now owns 41,133 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $2,189,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CSCO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Melius upgraded Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Rosenblatt Securities raised Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $66.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.63.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In related news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total value of $125,345.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 191,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,604,868.80. The trade was a 1.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 19,929 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $1,283,626.89. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 335,605 shares in the company, valued at $21,616,318.05. This trade represents a 5.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 66,547 shares of company stock worth $4,275,553. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CSCO opened at $60.97 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $242.56 billion, a PE ratio of 26.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79. 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 fifty-two week low of $44.50 and a fifty-two week high of $66.50. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $62.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.25.

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

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is currently 71.62%.

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

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.