Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Acquired by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 39.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 440,169 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 124,529 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $26,058,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CSCO. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,297,905,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth $560,722,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 50.3% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 6,627,956 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $392,375,000 after purchasing an additional 2,219,311 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 18.0% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 13,880,257 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $821,711,000 after purchasing an additional 2,114,994 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth about $105,685,000. Institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 11,808 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total value of $760,080.96. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 200,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,886,294.67. This trade represents a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 736,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,413,489.20. This trade represents a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 66,547 shares of company stock valued at $4,275,553. Insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Down 4.8 %

CSCO stock opened at $54.54 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $61.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $58.92. The company has a market cap of $216.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.82, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.86. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.50 and a 12-month high of $66.50. 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) last issued its earnings results 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the network equipment provider to purchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm 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 is a positive change from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.01%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is 71.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on CSCO. BNP Paribas raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $72.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com lowered Cisco Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Melius Research raised Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Seven 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cisco Systems currently 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.