Zacks Investment Management Raises Holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Zacks Investment Management increased its stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,048,300 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 89,387 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems makes up approximately 1.1% of Zacks Investment Management's portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Zacks Investment Management owned about 0.05% of Cisco Systems worth $121,259,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Campbell Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 76.7% in the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 599 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. 73.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $2,060,025.03. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 736,120 shares in the company, valued at $47,413,489.20. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.99, for a total transaction of $46,474.38. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 44,155 shares in the company, valued at $2,693,013.45. This trade represents a 1.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 66,547 shares of company stock worth $4,275,553. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CSCO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. DZ Bank raised Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Cisco Systems from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Seven research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $65.58.

Cisco Systems Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ CSCO traded down $0.04 during trading on Friday, reaching $55.73. The company had a trading volume of 15,874,222 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,121,737. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.50 and a 12-month high of $66.50. The stock has a market cap of $221.69 billion, a PE ratio of 24.33, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.86. The business's 50-day moving average is $60.82 and its 200 day moving average is $59.06. 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 (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 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 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 purchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This is an increase from Cisco Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems's payout ratio 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.