Americana Partners LLC Increases Holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Americana Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 62.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 182,869 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 70,024 shares during the quarter. Americana Partners LLC's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $10,826,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CSCO. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Cisco Systems by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,931,461 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $3,402,432,000 after buying an additional 5,885,879 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its holdings in Cisco Systems by 327.5% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 6,819,000 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $362,907,000 after buying an additional 5,223,800 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Cisco Systems by 5,231.5% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 4,935,107 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $262,646,000 after buying an additional 4,842,542 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in Cisco Systems by 79.6% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 8,971,494 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $477,463,000 after buying an additional 3,975,028 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its holdings in Cisco Systems by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 193,489,477 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $10,297,506,000 after buying an additional 3,241,682 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.33% of the company's stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of Cisco Systems stock traded down $0.17 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $64.67. 14,823,623 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,789,303. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $60.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $257.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.24, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.84. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a one year low of $44.50 and a one year high of $66.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 16.96% and a return on equity of 26.08%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.41 dividend. 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 2.54%. Cisco Systems's payout ratio is currently 69.87%.

Cisco Systems announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the network equipment provider to repurchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on CSCO shares. Melius Research upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $72.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. 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. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Cisco Systems has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $66.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cisco Systems news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 19,929 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $1,283,626.89. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 335,605 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,616,318.05. This represents a 5.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 736,120 shares in the company, valued at $47,413,489.20. The trade was a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 67,921 shares of company stock valued at $4,298,667. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.

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.