Bank of Nova Scotia Acquires 1,852,357 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Key Points

• Bank of Nova Scotia increased its stake in Cisco Systems by 70.0%, acquiring an additional 1,852,357 shares during the first quarter, bringing its total ownership to approximately 4,499,038 shares.
• Cisco Systems recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.41 per share, translating to an annualized dividend of $1.64 with a yield of 2.4%.
• Several analysts have recently upgraded Cisco’s ratings, with Morgan Stanley increasing its price target from $67.00 to $70.00 and issuing an "overweight" rating.

Bank of Nova Scotia grew its stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 70.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,499,038 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,852,357 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems comprises approximately 0.7% of Bank of Nova Scotia's portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Bank of Nova Scotia owned approximately 0.11% of Cisco Systems worth $277,636,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS boosted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 892,064 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $55,049,000 after acquiring an additional 6,501 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Cisco Systems by 10.8% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,298 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $389,000 after purchasing an additional 612 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Cisco Systems by 28.9% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,037,909 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $249,180,000 after purchasing an additional 904,548 shares during the period. Investment Management Corp of Ontario boosted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 44.6% in the fourth quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 193,478 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $11,454,000 after purchasing an additional 59,680 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in Cisco Systems by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 111,510 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $6,882,000 after purchasing an additional 2,839 shares during the period. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 15,678 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.52, for a total value of $1,027,222.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 309,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,281,257.36. The trade was a 4.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 8,726 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.54, for a total transaction of $571,902.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 174,669 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,447,806.26. This trade represents a 4.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 97,335 shares of company stock worth $6,271,054. Insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.

Cisco Systems Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of Cisco Systems stock opened at $67.11 on Friday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $44.50 and a fifty-two week high of $69.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.95. The company has a market capitalization of $265.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.39, a P/E/G ratio of 4.07 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a fifty day moving average of $66.87 and a 200 day moving average of $62.72.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.04. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 26.48% and a net margin of 17.60%. The business had revenue of $14.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CSCO. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Cisco Systems from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. CICC Research started coverage on Cisco Systems in a report on Monday, July 14th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $78.00 target price on the stock. New Street Research restated a "neutral" rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Cisco Systems from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the company from $72.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $65.00 to $73.00 in a report on Monday, June 16th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $70.35.

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.

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