Swiss National Bank Lowers Stock Holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Swiss National Bank cut its stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 5.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,273,700 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after selling 684,700 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems makes up approximately 0.4% of Swiss National Bank's holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.28% of Cisco Systems worth $667,403,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth approximately $132,000. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter valued at $798,000. HighVista Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,698,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 93,357 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $5,527,000 after acquiring an additional 10,813 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter worth $502,000. Institutional investors own 73.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 191,184 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,604,868.80. This represents a 1.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 736,120 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,413,489.20. The trade was a 4.16 % 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 valued at $4,275,553. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Down 0.3 %

CSCO stock opened at $60.46 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $240.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12 month low of $44.50 and a 12 month high of $66.50. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $61.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

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Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the network equipment provider to buy up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems's payout ratio is 71.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CSCO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price 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 equities research 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 MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $66.63.

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.

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