Magnetar Financial LLC Makes New $1.04 Million Investment in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 17,518 shares of the network equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,037,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $132,000. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 3rd quarter worth $798,000. HighVista Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter worth $1,698,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 93,357 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $5,527,000 after acquiring an additional 10,813 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 76.4% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,947 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $1,003,000 after purchasing an additional 7,338 shares during the period. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cisco Systems Stock Up 1.3 %

CSCO traded up $0.81 on Wednesday, reaching $61.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 30,617,343 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,061,975. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $44.50 and a fifty-two week high of $66.50. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $62.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $58.34. The company has a market capitalization of $245.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.99, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79.

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Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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, analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes 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.

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 given a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This is a boost from Cisco Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.65%. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio is 71.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cisco Systems news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 191,184 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,604,868.80. The trade was a 1.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,547 shares of company stock worth $4,275,553 in the last quarter. 0.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CSCO. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased 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. Finally, Melius raised shares of Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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.