Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Grows Stock Holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 81.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,331,911 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,949,145 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned approximately 0.11% of Cisco Systems worth $256,449,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Campbell Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Cisco Systems by 76.7% in the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 599 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CSCO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Melius raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. BNP Paribas raised Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $72.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Cisco Systems from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.74.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $55.76 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $60.96 and a 200 day moving average of $59.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a market capitalization of $221.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.86. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52 week low of $44.50 and a 52 week high of $66.50.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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, sell-side analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.94%. 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 has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the network equipment provider to purchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total value of $125,345.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 191,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,604,868.80. This trade represents a 1.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 19,929 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $1,283,626.89. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 335,605 shares in the company, valued at $21,616,318.05. The trade was a 5.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,547 shares of company stock valued at $4,275,553 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

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.