Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Stock Position Raised by Pallas Capital Advisors LLC

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 31.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 27,499 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,652 shares during the quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $1,697,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 20.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 77,216,513 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,571,218,000 after acquiring an additional 13,285,052 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,297,905,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Cisco Systems by 11.4% in 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 buying an additional 4,832,813 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Cisco Systems by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 36,471,275 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $2,159,099,000 after buying an additional 2,637,006 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in 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 worth $1,741,597,000 after buying an additional 681,555 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $65.90 on Tuesday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1 year low of $44.50 and a 1 year high of $66.50. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $59.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.43. 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 $260.96 billion, a PE ratio of 28.78, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.88.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.04. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 16.96% and a return on equity of 26.08%. The business had revenue of $14.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.05 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. Cisco Systems’s revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

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

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be paid a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.49%. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is presently 66.94%.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 29,784 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.61, for a total value of $1,924,344.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 688,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,478,105.49. This represents a 4.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Oliver Tuszik sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.53, for a total transaction of $952,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 131,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,365,376.28. This trade represents a 10.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 71,400 shares of company stock worth $4,564,439. 0.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. 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 report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cisco Systems has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.00.

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.