Distillate Capital Partners LLC reduced its position in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 15.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 692,412 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after selling 126,734 shares during the period. Cisco Systems comprises 2.0% of Distillate Capital Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Distillate Capital Partners LLC's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $40,991,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 20.8% during 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 buying an additional 13,285,052 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at $3,297,905,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in 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 worth $1,107,930,000 after acquiring an additional 216,632 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,214,461 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $988,499,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195,469 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 18.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 2,114,994 shares during the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Melius Research upgraded Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $65.74.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on CSCO
Cisco Systems Stock Down 0.4 %
Shares of NASDAQ CSCO traded down $0.21 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $57.20. The company had a trading volume of 14,708,993 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,075,916. The stock's 50 day moving average is $61.19 and its 200-day moving average is $59.08. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $44.50 and a twelve month high of $66.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $227.56 billion, a PE ratio of 24.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.86.
Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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, equities analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Cisco Systems Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This is an increase from Cisco Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.62%.
Cisco Systems announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the network equipment provider to reacquire up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.
Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems
In other news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were 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 approximately $11,604,868.80. This trade represents a 1.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.99, for a total transaction of $46,474.38. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 44,155 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,693,013.45. This trade represents a 1.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,547 shares of company stock worth $4,275,553 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.
Cisco Systems Company Profile
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Free Report)
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.
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