CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Acquires 382,804 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 6.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,683,541 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 382,804 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems accounts for 0.7% of CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co's investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned 0.17% of Cisco Systems worth $395,269,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in Cisco Systems by 81.8% during the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 4,331,911 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $256,449,000 after purchasing an additional 1,949,145 shares during the last quarter. Capital Square LLC bought a new stake in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth approximately $216,000. MSH Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,311,000. Zacks Investment Management grew its position in Cisco Systems by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 2,048,300 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $121,259,000 after acquiring an additional 89,387 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 113.7% during the fourth quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,191 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $544,000 after acquiring an additional 4,891 shares in the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 19,929 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $1,283,626.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 335,605 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,616,318.05. This represents a 5.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.99, for a total value of $46,474.38. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 44,155 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,693,013.45. This represents a 1.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 66,547 shares of company stock valued at $4,275,553. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Melius Research raised shares of Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Cisco Systems from $72.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. DZ Bank raised shares of Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Barclays restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $65.58.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of Cisco Systems stock traded down $0.04 on Friday, hitting $55.73. 15,874,222 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,149,900. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1 year low of $44.50 and a 1 year high of $66.50. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $221.69 billion, a PE ratio of 24.33, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the network equipment provider to purchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This is a boost from Cisco Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.94%. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.62%.

Cisco Systems Company 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.