Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Purchased by Taika Capital LP

Taika Capital LP lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 446.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 74,908 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 61,199 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems comprises 3.4% of Taika Capital LP’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Taika Capital LP’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $4,435,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 76.7% during the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 599 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Cisco Systems in the 3rd quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth about $49,000. Institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. DZ Bank upgraded Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Melius Research raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday. Seven research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.63.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In other news, 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 value of $34,392.34. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 3,042 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.19, for a total value of $180,055.98. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 207,798 shares in the company, valued at $12,299,563.62. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 67,348 shares of company stock worth $4,318,181 in the last ninety days. 0.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 0.8 %

CSCO stock opened at $63.94 on Monday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a one year low of $44.50 and a one year high of $66.50. The stock has a market cap of $254.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $61.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $57.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

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

Cisco Systems declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the network equipment provider to buy up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.