Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 18.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,711,618 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 268,193 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $105,624,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC lifted its position in Cisco Systems by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 77,216,513 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,571,218,000 after purchasing an additional 13,285,052 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at $3,297,905,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Cisco Systems by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 47,238,258 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,796,505,000 after purchasing an additional 4,832,813 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Cisco Systems by 7.8% during the fourth 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 valued at $2,159,099,000 after purchasing an additional 2,637,006 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Cisco Systems by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 29,419,041 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,741,597,000 after purchasing an additional 681,555 shares during the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cisco Systems Trading Down 1.5%

NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $64.19 on Thursday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a one year low of $44.50 and a one year high of $66.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market cap of $254.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.03, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.88. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.49.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.55%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.94%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jeetendra I. Patel sold 9,961 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.97, for a total transaction of $637,205.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 257,162 shares in the company, valued at $16,450,653.14. The trade was a 3.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Oliver Tuszik sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.53, for a total transaction of $952,950.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 68,573 shares of company stock worth $4,392,619. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $72.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.00.

Cisco Systems 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.