PDT Partners LLC Purchases New Shares in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

PDT Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 11,136 shares of the network equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $659,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CSCO. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 114,448 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $6,775,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC acquired a new position in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $539,000. Lido Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 349,360 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $20,682,000 after buying an additional 34,129 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Cisco Systems by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 47,238,258 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $2,796,505,000 after purchasing an additional 4,832,813 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,996,104 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $354,969,000 after purchasing an additional 454,497 shares during the period. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on CSCO shares. Melius Research upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. DZ Bank raised Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $72.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $65.05.

Cisco Systems Trading Down 0.0 %

Cisco Systems stock traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $59.32. The company's stock had a trading volume of 14,753,568 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,246,256. The stock's fifty day moving average is $59.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $235.99 billion, a PE ratio of 25.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.89. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1 year low of $44.50 and a 1 year high of $66.50.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share 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%. On average, analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.76%. This is an increase from Cisco Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems's payout ratio is presently 71.62%.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $2,060,025.03. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 736,120 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,413,489.20. This trade represents a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.99, for a total transaction of $46,474.38. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 44,155 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,693,013.45. The trade was a 1.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,547 shares of company stock worth $4,275,553 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.

About Cisco Systems

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.