Quantessence Capital LLC Makes New Investment in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Quantessence Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 30,544 shares of the network equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,808,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CSCO. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 20.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 77,216,513 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $4,571,218,000 after buying an additional 13,285,052 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at $3,297,905,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings 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 valued at $1,741,597,000 after acquiring an additional 681,555 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 18,718,195 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $1,107,930,000 after purchasing an additional 216,632 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Cisco Systems by 7.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,214,461 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $988,499,000 after buying an additional 1,195,469 shares during the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on CSCO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Cisco Systems from $73.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Melius Research raised Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Barclays reiterated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $64.68.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In other news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $2,060,025.03. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the company'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 approximately $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. Insiders sold 66,547 shares of company stock valued at $4,275,553 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ CSCO traded up $0.66 during trading on Thursday, reaching $56.29. 22,762,574 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,215,336. 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 market capitalization of $223.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.58, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.86. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $60.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last issued 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. Cisco Systems's payout ratio is 71.62%.

Cisco Systems announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase 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 reacquire up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

About Cisco Systems

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.