Metis Global Partners LLC Raises Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Metis Global Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 256,099 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,812 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $15,161,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 76.7% during the 4th quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 599 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter valued at $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CSCO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Melius Research upgraded Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.63.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 0.5 %

CSCO stock opened at $64.14 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.50 and a 12-month high of $66.50. The stock has a market cap of $255.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.01, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.84. The business’s 50-day moving average is $61.23 and its 200 day moving average is $56.79.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.56%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is currently 71.62%.

Cisco Systems announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to buyback $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the network equipment provider to reacquire up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In other news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 3,042 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.19, for a total transaction of $180,055.98. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 207,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,299,563.62. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 586 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.69, for a total transaction of $34,392.34. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 50,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,979,515.23. The trade was a 1.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 74,848 shares of company stock worth $4,767,206 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

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.