Mizuho Securities USA LLC Buys 116,537 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 44.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 377,784 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 116,537 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $22,365,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CSCO. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth $132,000. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in Cisco Systems in the 3rd quarter worth about $798,000. HighVista Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems during the third quarter valued at about $1,698,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 93,357 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $5,527,000 after buying an additional 10,813 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 76.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 7,338 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CSCO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. DZ Bank raised Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Melius raised shares of Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $66.63.

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Cisco Systems Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CSCO traded up $0.81 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $61.80. 30,617,380 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,078,896. 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 52 week low of $44.50 and a 52 week high of $66.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $245.86 billion, a PE ratio of 26.99, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79. The company's 50 day moving average is $62.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.34.

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

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. 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. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio is presently 71.62%.

Cisco Systems announced that its board has approved a stock 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 buy up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the company's 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 736,120 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $47,413,489.20. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.99, for a total value of $46,474.38. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 44,155 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,693,013.45. The trade was a 1.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 66,547 shares of company stock worth $4,275,553 in the last quarter. 0.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.