Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Holdings Lifted by Norinchukin Bank The

Norinchukin Bank The boosted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 6.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 225,593 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 14,341 shares during the quarter. Norinchukin Bank The's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $13,355,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CSCO. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at $3,297,905,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 77,216,513 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $4,571,218,000 after purchasing an additional 13,285,052 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $560,722,000. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 143.2% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,986,627 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $295,208,000 after acquiring an additional 2,936,567 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 50.3% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 6,627,956 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $392,375,000 after acquiring an additional 2,219,311 shares in the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total value of $125,345.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 191,184 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,604,868.80. This trade represents a 1.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.99, for a total transaction of $46,474.38. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 44,155 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,693,013.45. This represents a 1.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 66,547 shares of company stock worth $4,275,553. Insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

Shares of CSCO traded up $0.97 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $56.01. The stock had a trading volume of 15,585,609 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,111,857. 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 has a market capitalization of $222.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.46, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.86. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $60.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.16. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52 week low of $44.50 and a 52 week 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 earnings per share 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%. On average, analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the network equipment provider to reacquire up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.93%. This is a boost from Cisco Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio is currently 71.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $73.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com cut Cisco Systems from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven investment 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, Cisco Systems presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $64.68.

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.