Candriam S.C.A. Buys 273,929 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Candriam S.C.A. lifted its position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 17.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,804,236 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 273,929 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $85,715,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CSCO. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth $2,528,939,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the first quarter worth about $840,538,000. FIL Ltd grew its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 47.1% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 18,922,422 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $955,961,000 after purchasing an additional 6,054,748 shares during the last quarter. Natixis increased its holdings in Cisco Systems by 438.4% during the 1st quarter. Natixis now owns 4,924,988 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $245,806,000 after purchasing an additional 4,010,228 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Cisco Systems by 29.0% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 17,727,214 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $895,576,000 after purchasing an additional 3,989,543 shares during the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CSCO opened at $48.50 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $47.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.94. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.50 and a 52-week high of $57.09. The company has a market cap of $195.40 billion, a PE ratio of 16.33, a PEG ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 0.83.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.02. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 27.83% and a net margin of 19.18%. The company had revenue of $13.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. Cisco Systems’s revenue was down 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 2.9 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 2nd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 27,143 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.45, for a total transaction of $1,342,221.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 683,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,794,278.35. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Cisco Systems news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 3,379 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.36, for a total transaction of $170,166.44. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 47,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,376,085.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 27,143 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.45, for a total value of $1,342,221.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 683,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,794,278.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 71,944 shares of company stock worth $3,566,120 over the last quarter. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. BNP Paribas upgraded Cisco Systems from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $50.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, August 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.89.

Cisco Systems 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.