As an investor, would you rather follow the minnows or the whales? If you like to track the smart-money flow, then you’ll definitely want to take a look at Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO). As it turns out, a number of institutions have long positions in CSCO stock. Take a deep dive into Cisco, and you’ll undoubtedly see why these financial giants are staking their claims.

California-headquartered software and hardware provider Cisco has been part of the Big Tech wreck of 2022. Cisco shares are still down 22% year to date, which is certainly frustrating to some stakeholders.

Yet, it looks like some institutional investors haven’t given up on Cisco. In fact, at least five of them held millions of Cisco shares as of Sept. 29, 2022. You’ll probably recognize these famous names in the U.S. banking sector, so let’s reveal them right now.

5 Investors Betting Big on CSCO Stock

Without further ado, here’s a handful of Cisco’s notable, mega-sized shareholders, as revealed in regulatory filings.

• Vanguard: A huge position of 377.76 million CSCO shares, which equates to 9.19% of the outstanding shares.
• BlackRock (NYSE:BLK): 343.86 million shares, representing 8.37% of Cisco’s outstanding shares.
• State Street (NYSE:STT): 182.32 million CSCO shares, which translates to 4.44% of the outstanding shares.
• Bank of America (NYSE:BAC): 63.77 million Cisco shares, or 1.55% of the outstanding shares.
• Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS): a position consisting of 52.63 million shares, comprising 1.28% of Cisco’s outstanding shares.

Big Investors Are Probably Attracted to Cisco’s Value and Dividends

There are two pieces of good news here. First, you don’t have to be a billionaire to invest like these huge banking institutions do. Second, we can surmise why these big banks might find CSCO stock so attractive.

For one thing, Cisco’s shares are trading at a very reasonable valuation, especially for a technology company. Indeed, Cisco’s trailing 12-month price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 17.94x indicates a buy-low, sell-high opportunity.

Also, Cisco offers a generous forward annual dividend yield of 3.15%. This means investors, big and small, can sit back and collect quarterly dividend distributions from Cisco. Better yet, you can reinvest those cash payments for maximum potential returns.

You’d also be investing in a revenue-growing business. Surely, large banks appreciate the fact that Cisco increased its software revenue by 5% and its software subscription revenue by 11% year-over-year during 2022’s third quarter. The company’s total revenue grew 6% — not too shabby during a challenging year for technology businesses.

What You Can Do Now

Are you ready to swim with the financial whales? You’re encouraged to dive right in, as the sooner you establish your stake in Cisco shares, the sooner you can start to collect those hefty dividend payouts.

So, feel free to conduct your own due diligence and discover the many reasons to hold CSCO stock now. You’ll be in good company, investing in Cisco along with some of the biggest names in banking.

On the date of publication, David Moadel did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.