Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC Buys 676,049 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 63.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,742,585 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 676,049 shares during the period. Cisco Systems comprises approximately 0.7% of Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $103,161,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth $603,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Cisco Systems by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 50,077 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $2,965,000 after buying an additional 3,252 shares during the period. Krilogy Financial LLC increased its stake in Cisco Systems by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 11,622 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $688,000 after buying an additional 1,001 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust increased its stake in Cisco Systems by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 15,024 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $889,000 after buying an additional 1,221 shares during the period. Finally, Ellsworth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Cisco Systems by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 104,744 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $6,201,000 after buying an additional 1,711 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 9,643 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.50, for a total transaction of $612,330.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 181,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,505,311. This represents a 5.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total transaction of $125,345.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 191,184 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,604,868.80. This represents a 1.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 22,431 shares of company stock valued at $1,421,356. Insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

CSCO traded down $0.25 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $63.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 15,644,520 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,300,665. The stock has a market cap of $251.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.56, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $44.50 and a twelve month high of $66.50.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $14.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.05 billion. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 26.08% and a net margin of 16.96%. The company's revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. Research analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the network equipment provider to reacquire up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio is currently 66.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on CSCO shares. Barclays reiterated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Cisco Systems from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. BNP Paribas upgraded Cisco Systems from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $72.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Cisco Systems currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $68.00.

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.