FIL Ltd Decreases Stock Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

FIL Ltd reduced its position in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 16.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,717,661 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after selling 4,422,759 shares during the period. Cisco Systems makes up approximately 1.2% of FIL Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. FIL Ltd owned about 0.55% of Cisco Systems worth $1,285,686,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 92.3% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,271 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 610 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.4% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 932,221 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $49,613,000 after purchasing an additional 12,849 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 2.1% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,583,832 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $137,512,000 after buying an additional 52,242 shares in the last quarter. Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank grew its position in Cisco Systems by 13.2% during the third quarter. Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank now owns 16,278 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $866,000 after buying an additional 1,900 shares during the period. Finally, EWA LLC purchased a new position in Cisco Systems in the third quarter valued at about $298,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

CSCO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Cisco Systems from $72.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com downgraded Cisco Systems from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. DZ Bank upgraded Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised shares of Cisco Systems from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $66.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total transaction of $125,345.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 191,184 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,604,868.80. This represents a 1.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 44,155 shares in the company, 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 66,547 shares of company stock valued at $4,275,553. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ:CSCO traded up $0.74 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $57.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,769,020 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,032,734. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market cap of $228.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.93, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.86. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $61.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.98. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $44.50 and a twelve month high of $66.50.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.91 by ($0.14). Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 26.08% and a net margin of 16.96%. On average, equities analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. This is an increase from Cisco Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio is presently 71.62%.

Cisco Systems declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the network equipment provider to repurchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.