Betterment LLC Makes New $248,000 Investment in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Betterment LLC purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 4,191 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $248,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC increased its stake in Cisco Systems by 20.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 77,216,513 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $4,571,218,000 after buying an additional 13,285,052 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at $3,297,905,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 29,419,041 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,741,597,000 after buying an additional 681,555 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Cisco Systems by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 18,718,195 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,107,930,000 after purchasing an additional 216,632 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Cisco Systems by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,214,461 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $988,499,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195,469 shares during the period. 73.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In related news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $2,060,025.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 736,120 shares in the company, valued at $47,413,489.20. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 191,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,604,868.80. The trade was a 1.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 66,547 shares of company stock valued at $4,275,553. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on CSCO shares. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Melius Research raised Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Cisco Systems from $73.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their target price on Cisco Systems from $80.00 to $63.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.05.

Cisco Systems Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ CSCO opened at $56.84 on Tuesday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.50 and a 12-month high of $66.50. The company has a market cap of $226.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.82, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.86. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $59.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.29.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.91 by ($0.14). Cisco Systems had a net margin of 16.96% and a return on equity of 26.08%. Research analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback 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 buy up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 2.89%. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.62%.

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.