Optas LLC Has $3.16 Million Stock Holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. $CSCO

Optas LLC boosted its position in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 189.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 41,002 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,818 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems makes up approximately 0.5% of Optas LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Optas LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $3,158,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CSCO. Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 96.2% during 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 last quarter. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 115.7% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Holos Integrated Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on CSCO shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Evercore upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $80.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, January 26th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Cisco Systems to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. Finally, Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 target price for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.81.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

CSCO opened at $87.71 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12 month low of $53.83 and a 12 month high of $88.35. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $79.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.92. The stock has a market cap of $346.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.83.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The network equipment provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.02. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 19.22% and a return on equity of 27.88%. The business had revenue of $15.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.94 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 2nd will be given 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 1.9%. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.95%.

Insider Activity

In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 7,981 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.50, for a total transaction of $634,489.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 187,097 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,874,211.50. This represents a 4.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jeetendra I. Patel sold 11,248 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.00, for a total value of $854,848.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 262,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,970,976. This trade represents a 4.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 46,431 shares of company stock worth $3,574,820. 0.01% of the stock is currently 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.