Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Bought by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,419,041 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 681,555 shares during the period. Cisco Systems makes up approximately 0.4% of Dimensional Fund Advisors LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.74% of Cisco Systems worth $1,741,597,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 20.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 77,216,513 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $4,571,218,000 after acquiring an additional 13,285,052 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,297,905,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 18,718,195 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $1,107,930,000 after purchasing an additional 216,632 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Cisco Systems by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,214,461 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $988,499,000 after buying an additional 1,195,469 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in Cisco Systems by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 13,880,257 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $821,711,000 after buying an additional 2,114,994 shares during the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

Shares of CSCO traded up $1.14 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $56.18. 15,085,331 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,108,684. The stock has a market cap of $223.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.86. 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 moving average of $60.35 and a 200-day moving average of $59.16. 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 earnings per share (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%. Analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback 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 reacquire up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.92%. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems's payout ratio is 71.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total value of $125,345.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 191,184 shares in the company, valued at $11,604,868.80. The trade was a 1.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 owns 736,120 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $47,413,489.20. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,547 shares of company stock valued at $4,275,553 in the last three months. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CSCO. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $72.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Cisco Systems from $73.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. BNP Paribas upgraded Cisco Systems from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $72.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $64.68.

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.