Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 94.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,017 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 8,730 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $1,067,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.6% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 9,029,594 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $480,555,000 after purchasing an additional 52,711 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new position in Cisco Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $16,798,000. Meridian Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 10.9% in the third quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,952 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $1,117,000 after acquiring an additional 2,060 shares in the last quarter. Nwam LLC increased its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 2.6% during the third quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 18,570 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $988,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares during the period. Finally, Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 4.5% in the third quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 104,490 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $5,561,000 after acquiring an additional 4,480 shares in the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of CSCO stock traded down $0.40 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $61.40. 25,714,633 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,106,779. 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 company's 50 day moving average is $62.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.36. The company has a market cap of $244.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1 year low of $44.50 and a 1 year high of $66.50.

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 (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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the network equipment provider to purchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.41 per share. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio is presently 71.62%.

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 stock was sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total value of $125,345.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 191,184 shares in the company, valued at $11,604,868.80. This trade represents a 1.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.99, for a total value of $46,474.38. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 44,155 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,693,013.45. This trade represents a 1.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 66,547 shares of company stock valued at $4,275,553. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on CSCO shares. Rosenblatt Securities raised Cisco Systems from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $66.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $72.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $66.63.

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.