Gulf International Bank UK Ltd Raises Stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Gulf International Bank UK Ltd grew its stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 319,474 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,192 shares during the period. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $18,912,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Cisco Systems by 76.7% in the 4th 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. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Cisco Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Cisco Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, Director Kristina M. Johnson sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.87, for a total transaction of $449,025.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 65,915 shares in the company, valued at $3,946,331.05. This represents a 10.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 value of $2,060,025.03. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 736,120 shares of the company’s stock, 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 90 days, insiders sold 74,848 shares of company stock valued at $4,767,206. Insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CSCO opened at $64.08 on Thursday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1-year low of $44.50 and a 1-year high of $66.50. The business has a 50-day moving average of $61.00 and a 200-day moving average of $56.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $254.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.98, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.84.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 EPS 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.56%. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. DZ Bank raised Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com cut Cisco Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $72.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.53.

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.