1,785,215 Shares in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Purchased by KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 1,785,215 shares of the network equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $105,685,000. Cisco Systems comprises 0.5% of KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Campbell Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 76.7% in the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 599 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the period. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company's stock.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of Cisco Systems stock traded up $0.81 on Wednesday, hitting $61.80. 30,617,380 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,078,896. The company has a market capitalization of $245.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a one year low of $44.50 and a one year high of $66.50. The company has a fifty day moving average of $62.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $58.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

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Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last released 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, sell-side analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the network equipment provider to purchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.65%. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio is currently 71.62%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 11,808 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total transaction of $760,080.96. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 200,191 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,886,294.67. The trade was a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $2,060,025.03. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 736,120 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $47,413,489.20. This trade represents a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 66,547 shares of company stock valued at $4,275,553 in the last ninety days. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Melius upgraded Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $73.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. BNP Paribas raised Cisco Systems from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $72.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Melius Research upgraded Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Cisco Systems from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $66.63.

About Cisco Systems

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.