Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Purchases 13,906 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Key Points

• The Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board increased its holdings in Cisco Systems, acquiring an additional 13,906 shares, which boosted its ownership by 94.3%, bringing its total to 28,652 shares valued at approximately $1.77 million.
• Several other institutional investors have similarly increased their stakes in Cisco, with significant increases from firms like Goldman Sachs (up 37.4%) and Pacer Advisors (up 1,144.2%).
• Following recent analyst upgrades, Cisco shares have displayed a positive trajectory, with an average price target set by analysts at approximately $70.55.

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board boosted its stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 94.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,652 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 13,906 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $1,768,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Navigoe LLC bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. JDM Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 160.4% during the fourth quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 487 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 224.7% during the first quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 578 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the first quarter worth about $36,000. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In other news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.07, for a total value of $48,821.34. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 36,937 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,366,553.59. This represents a 2.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 174,669 shares in the company, valued at $11,447,806.26. The trade was a 4.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 97,335 shares of company stock valued at $6,271,054. 0.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $77.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays reiterated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. New Street Research reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $65.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $70.55.

Cisco Systems Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of Cisco Systems stock traded down $0.89 on Monday, hitting $70.90. The company had a trading volume of 10,242,681 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,166,416. The firm has a market capitalization of $280.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 0.91. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $44.50 and a twelve month high of $72.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $67.49 and a 200-day moving average of $63.05.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.04. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 17.60% and a return on equity of 26.48%. The business had revenue of $14.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd were paid a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.94%.

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.