Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Bought by Sterling Capital Management LLC

Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 151.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 118,014 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 71,155 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $6,986,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CSCO. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth about $3,297,905,000. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 20.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 77,216,513 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $4,571,218,000 after acquiring an additional 13,285,052 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth about $560,722,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 50.3% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. increased its position in Cisco Systems by 520.4% during the fourth quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 2,608,715 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $149,141,000 after purchasing an additional 2,188,252 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company's stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the senior vice president now 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.70, 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 approximately $11,604,868.80. This represents a 1.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 66,547 shares of company stock worth $4,275,553. 0.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CSCO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Melius raised Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $65.74.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

CSCO stock traded down $0.21 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $57.20. 14,647,359 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,075,905. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $61.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.08. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $227.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.86.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last released 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 return on equity of 26.08% and a net margin of 16.96%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems declared that its Board of Directors has initiated 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 purchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.62%.

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.