Handelsbanken Fonder AB Buys 145,835 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 6.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,592,101 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 145,835 shares during the period. Cisco Systems makes up approximately 0.6% of Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned approximately 0.07% of Cisco Systems worth $153,452,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CSCO. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 76.7% in the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 599 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter valued at $51,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Cisco Systems in the 3rd quarter worth $56,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company's stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ CSCO traded down $0.66 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $64.02. The company had a trading volume of 9,019,826 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,462,584. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $60.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.01. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.50 and a 12-month high of $66.50. The company has a market capitalization of $254.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.94, a PEG ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.84. 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 posted 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 research analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

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

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.56%. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems's payout ratio is currently 71.62%.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were 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 directly owns 736,120 shares of the company's stock, valued at $47,413,489.20. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 4,881 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.73, for a total value of $291,542.13. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 51,931 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,101,838.63. This represents a 8.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 67,921 shares of company stock valued at $4,298,667. 0.01% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on CSCO shares. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Cisco Systems from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $66.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup upped their target price on Cisco Systems from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $66.53.

About Cisco Systems

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.