Nearwater Capital Markets Ltd Buys New Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Nearwater Capital Markets Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 330,000 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $19,536,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Cisco Systems by 20.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 77,216,513 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,571,218,000 after buying an additional 13,285,052 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,297,905,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 47,238,258 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,796,505,000 after acquiring an additional 4,832,813 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 29,419,041 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,741,597,000 after acquiring an additional 681,555 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Cisco Systems by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 17,161,261 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,015,948,000 after buying an additional 1,943,563 shares during the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $61.78 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $58.70 and a 200-day moving average of $59.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $245.78 billion, a PE ratio of 26.98, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.89. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12 month low of $44.50 and a 12 month high of $66.50. 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 (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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In other news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 19,929 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 5.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $2,060,025.03. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 736,120 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,413,489.20. This trade represents a 4.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,547 shares of company stock valued at $4,275,553 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on CSCO shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $72.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $75.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.05.

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.