Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) is First Trust Advisors LP's Largest Position

First Trust Advisors LP lowered its holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 30,243,977 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after selling 105,998 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems accounts for about 1.6% of First Trust Advisors LP's holdings, making the stock its biggest position. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.76% of Cisco Systems worth $1,790,443,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at $3,297,905,000. FMR LLC grew its stake in 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. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at about $560,722,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in Cisco Systems by 143.2% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,986,627 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $295,208,000 after acquiring an additional 2,936,567 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 50.3% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 6,627,956 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $392,375,000 after purchasing an additional 2,219,311 shares in the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cisco Systems news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $2,060,025.03. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 736,120 shares in the company, valued at $47,413,489.20. The trade was a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.99, for a total value of $46,474.38. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 66,547 shares of company stock valued at $4,275,553. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CSCO has been the subject of several research reports. Melius Research upgraded Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price objective on Cisco Systems from $80.00 to $63.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Melius raised shares of Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $64.68.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 1.7 %

Cisco Systems stock traded up $0.96 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $56.00. The stock had a trading volume of 14,289,577 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,106,921. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $60.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.16. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $44.50 and a twelve month high of $66.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $222.78 billion, a PE ratio of 24.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.86.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share 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%. Analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

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

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.41 per share. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.93%. Cisco Systems's payout ratio is presently 71.62%.

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.