Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA Makes New $3.46 Million Investment in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 58,485 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,462,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 76.7% in the 4th quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 599 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the period. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter valued at about $51,000. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cisco Systems Stock Down 1.1 %

CSCO stock opened at $63.98 on Friday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.50 and a 52-week high of $66.50. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $254.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.94, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.84.

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

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.56%. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is presently 69.87%.

Cisco Systems announced that its board has approved 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 purchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on CSCO shares. BNP Paribas raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $72.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.53.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In related news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 19,929 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $1,283,626.89. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 335,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,616,318.05. The trade was a 5.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 736,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,413,489.20. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 67,921 shares of company stock valued at $4,298,667. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

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.