MML Investors Services LLC Increases Stock Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

MML Investors Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 964,086 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 31,865 shares during the quarter. MML Investors Services LLC's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $57,074,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 1,055,143 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $62,464,000 after acquiring an additional 7,068 shares in the last quarter. Norinchukin Bank The boosted its position in Cisco Systems by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 225,593 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $13,355,000 after purchasing an additional 14,341 shares in the last quarter. Ossiam increased its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Ossiam now owns 74,781 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $4,427,000 after buying an additional 4,522 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its stake in Cisco Systems by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 1,142,895 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $67,659,000 after acquiring an additional 178,583 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 29,419,041 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $1,741,597,000 after purchasing an additional 681,555 shares in the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In related news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 19,929 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $1,283,626.89. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 335,605 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,616,318.05. This trade represents a 5.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.99, for a total transaction of $46,474.38. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now 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 worth $4,275,553. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CSCO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price objective on Cisco Systems from $80.00 to $63.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Barclays reiterated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $73.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cisco Systems has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $64.68.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 1.4 %

CSCO traded up $0.77 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $56.40. 8,638,153 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,502,727. The company has a market cap of $224.37 billion, a PE ratio of 24.62, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm's fifty day moving average is $60.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.13. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems declared that its board has initiated a stock 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 generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were paid a $0.41 dividend. This is a boost from Cisco Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.