Fmr LLC Purchases 13,285,052 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Fmr LLC boosted its position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 20.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 77,216,513 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 13,285,052 shares during the quarter. Fmr LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $4,571,218,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CSCO. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Campbell Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Cisco Systems by 76.7% during the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 599 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Down 4.8 %

NASDAQ CSCO opened at $54.54 on Friday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12 month low of $44.50 and a 12 month high of $66.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market cap of $216.98 billion, a PE ratio of 23.82, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.86. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $61.91 and its 200 day moving average is $58.87.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its 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 return on equity of 26.08% and a net margin of 16.96%. Research analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the network equipment provider to repurchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a $0.41 dividend. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is currently 71.62%.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the business’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 transaction of $2,060,025.03. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 736,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,413,489.20. The trade was a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 19,929 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $1,283,626.89. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 335,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,616,318.05. The trade was a 5.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 66,547 shares of company stock valued at $4,275,553. Insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on CSCO shares. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com downgraded Cisco Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Melius raised Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $66.00 to $73.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.