Cisco Systems, Inc. $CSCO Shares Sold by Baillie Gifford & Co.

Baillie Gifford & Co. lessened its stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,006,219 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 19,887 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co.’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $77,509,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Cisco Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Cisco Systems by 96.2% in the 3rd quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 408 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC increased its position in Cisco Systems by 115.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 468 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares during the period. Finally, Holos Integrated Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on CSCO shares. Argus upgraded Cisco Systems to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. CICC Research boosted their price target on Cisco Systems from $84.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Cisco Systems from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Erste Group Bank cut Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.76.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ CSCO opened at $82.35 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The business’s 50 day moving average is $79.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.33. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $53.83 and a 12-month high of $88.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $325.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.89, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.83.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The network equipment provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.02. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 27.88% and a net margin of 19.22%.The company had revenue of $15.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is currently 58.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 7,981 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.50, for a total value of $634,489.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 187,097 shares in the company, valued at $14,874,211.50. This represents a 4.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 551 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.54, for a total value of $42,724.54. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 27,957 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,167,785.78. This represents a 1.93% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 46,431 shares of company stock worth $3,574,820. 0.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Cisco Systems Company Profile

Cisco Systems, Inc is a global technology company that designs, manufactures and sells networking hardware, software and telecommunications equipment. Its core business focuses on enabling enterprise and service-provider networks through products such as routers, switches, network security appliances and wireless systems. Over time Cisco has broadened its portfolio to emphasize software-defined networking, cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure and edge computing solutions that help organizations build and manage modern IT environments.

In addition to hardware, Cisco offers a growing range of software platforms and subscription services for network management, security, analytics and collaboration.