Guggenheim Capital LLC Has $129.69 Million Stock Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Guggenheim Capital LLC reduced its stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,190,744 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 67,196 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems comprises about 1.1% of Guggenheim Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Guggenheim Capital LLC owned 0.06% of Cisco Systems worth $129,692,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,448,000. Dagco Inc. increased its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. Dagco Inc. now owns 9,262 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $548,000 after purchasing an additional 1,320 shares during the period. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth $5,389,000. Defined Financial Planning LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at $287,000. Finally, Broyhill Asset Management bought a new position in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at about $494,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

NASDAQ CSCO opened at $57.41 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $228.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.08. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.50 and a 52-week high of $66.50.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a $0.41 dividend. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.62%.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In other news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total transaction of $125,345.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 191,184 shares in the company, valued at $11,604,868.80. This represents a 1.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $2,060,025.03. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 736,120 shares in the company, valued at $47,413,489.20. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,547 shares of company stock valued at $4,275,553 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Cisco Systems from $72.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Melius raised Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Seven equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.74.

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.