Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Bought by Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 187.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,478,872 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,880,747 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems accounts for 0.9% of Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec's investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec owned 0.19% of Cisco Systems worth $442,749,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CSCO. Advisory Resource Group boosted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.9% in the third quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 97,718 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $5,201,000 after purchasing an additional 1,784 shares during the period. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in Cisco Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $798,000. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 4.5% in the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,188 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $542,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the third quarter worth $1,097,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 13.9% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 137,503 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $7,318,000 after purchasing an additional 16,749 shares during the period. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com lowered Cisco Systems from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Melius Research raised Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, 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. Seven investment 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cisco Systems currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $65.05.

Insider Activity

In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total value of $125,345.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 191,184 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,604,868.80. This trade represents a 1.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $2,060,025.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 736,120 shares of the company's stock, valued at $47,413,489.20. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,547 shares of company stock valued at $4,275,553 in the last three months. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of CSCO stock traded down $0.13 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $59.19. The company had a trading volume of 5,323,515 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,187,801. The stock has a market cap of $235.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.90, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.89. 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's 50 day simple moving average is $59.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.38. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.50 and a 52-week high of $66.50.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 26.08% and a net margin of 16.96%. Research analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.77%. This is an increase from Cisco Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio is 71.62%.

Cisco Systems announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the network equipment provider to buy up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.