Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Purchased by AIA Group Ltd

AIA Group Ltd raised its position in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 37.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,039,233 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 283,545 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems accounts for 2.2% of AIA Group Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $52,502,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp increased its stake in Cisco Systems by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 184,879,450 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $9,664,544,000 after buying an additional 4,061,022 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 17.4% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 61,788,267 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $2,943,593,000 after acquiring an additional 9,160,347 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 112,307.0% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 59,519,500 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $2,835,509,000 after acquiring an additional 59,466,550 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 3.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 57,102,221 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $3,069,815,000 after acquiring an additional 1,790,717 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Cisco Systems by 6.1% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 53,356,141 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,975,139,000 after purchasing an additional 3,087,294 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

Shares of Cisco Systems stock traded up $0.33 during trading on Thursday, hitting $48.12. 8,068,548 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,420,064. The company has a market cap of $194.85 billion, a PE ratio of 14.63, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.87. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $49.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $50.31. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $45.56 and a twelve month high of $58.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.03. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 33.01% and a net margin of 23.49%. The company had revenue of $12.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.76 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In other news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 2,497 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $124,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 58,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,906,050. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 3,002 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.01, for a total transaction of $150,130.02. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 191,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,579,865.59. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 2,497 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $124,850.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 58,121 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,906,050. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 19,441 shares of company stock worth $972,080 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CSCO. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $52.00 target price on the stock. Melius Research reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Monday, January 8th. StockNews.com lowered Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Bank of America raised Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.03.

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.