Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Stake Lifted by Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI

Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI boosted its holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 1,189.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,028,714 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 948,914 shares during the quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $60,900,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CSCO. Tallon Kerry Patrick purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth about $603,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Cisco Systems by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 50,077 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $2,965,000 after purchasing an additional 3,252 shares in the last quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC raised its holdings in Cisco Systems by 9.4% in the fourth 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 lifted its position in Cisco Systems by 8.8% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Ellsworth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Cisco Systems by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 104,744 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $6,201,000 after buying an additional 1,711 shares during the period. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In other news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 9,643 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.50, for a total transaction of $612,330.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 181,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,505,311. The trade was a 5.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jeetendra I. Patel sold 9,961 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.97, for a total value of $637,205.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 257,162 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,450,653.14. This trade represents a 3.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 34,239 shares of company stock worth $2,181,437. 0.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CSCO traded up $0.16 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $63.36. The company's stock had a trading volume of 15,624,481 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,311,940. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.87. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1-year low of $44.50 and a 1-year high of $66.50. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $58.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.83. The firm has a market cap of $252.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.67, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.89.

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

Cisco Systems announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the network equipment provider to purchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be paid a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. Cisco Systems's payout ratio is 66.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CSCO has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on Cisco Systems from $63.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Cisco Systems from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $72.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Eight 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cisco Systems has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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.