ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO – Get Rating) by 35.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,632 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 5,425 shares during the quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $983,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $231,000. Grimes & Company Inc. grew its holdings in Cisco Systems by 3.3% during the third quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 491,646 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $19,666,000 after purchasing an additional 15,808 shares during the period. Renaissance Group LLC grew its holdings in Cisco Systems by 1.2% during the third quarter. Renaissance Group LLC now owns 21,616 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $865,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL grew its holdings in Cisco Systems by 1.3% during the third quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 19,873 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $795,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its holdings in Cisco Systems by 10.9% during the third quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 131,164 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $5,247,000 after purchasing an additional 12,848 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.10% of the company's stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ CSCO traded down $0.46 on Wednesday, hitting $45.90. 6,281,012 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,229,602. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The business's fifty day moving average is $49.43 and its 200 day moving average is $47.99. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.60 and a 52 week high of $52.56. The company has a market capitalization of $188.00 billion, a PE ratio of 16.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.00.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 15th. The network equipment provider reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.12. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 21.26% and a return on equity of 31.19%. The firm had revenue of $13.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.41 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.77 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 5th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 4th. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio is 57.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cisco Systems news, SVP Prat Bhatt sold 608 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.74, for a total value of $29,633.92. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 50,162 shares in the company, valued at $2,444,895.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 23,701 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.90, for a total value of $1,206,380.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 184,853 shares in the company, valued at $9,409,017.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Prat Bhatt sold 608 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.74, for a total transaction of $29,633.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 50,162 shares in the company, valued at $2,444,895.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 47,568 shares of company stock valued at $2,376,624. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on CSCO shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 16th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 16th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Cisco Systems from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $56.38.

Cisco Systems Company Profile

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Cisco Systems, Inc engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of Internet Protocol-based networking products and services related to the communications and information technology industry. The firm operates through the following geographical segments: the Americas, EMEA, and APJC. Its products include the following categories: Switches, Routers, Wireless, Network Management Interfaces and Modules, Optical Networking, Access Points, Outdoor and Industrial Access Points, Next-Generation Firewalls, Advanced Malware Protection, VPN Security Clients, Email, and Web Security.

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