Evergreen Capital Management LLC Acquires 7,008 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Evergreen Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 339,116 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,008 shares during the period. Cisco Systems accounts for about 0.7% of Evergreen Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Evergreen Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $20,076,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CSCO. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at $3,297,905,000. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth about $560,722,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 50.3% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 6,627,956 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $392,375,000 after buying an additional 2,219,311 shares during the period. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. increased its position in Cisco Systems by 520.4% in the 4th quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 2,608,715 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $149,141,000 after buying an additional 2,188,252 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Down 0.4 %

CSCO opened at $57.20 on Wednesday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $44.50 and a twelve month high of $66.50. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $61.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.07. The stock has a market cap of $227.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.98, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its 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 return on equity of 26.08% and a net margin of 16.96%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the network equipment provider to repurchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is 71.62%.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In other news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 19,929 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $1,283,626.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 335,605 shares in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.99, for a total value of $46,474.38. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 44,155 shares in the company, valued at $2,693,013.45. This trade represents a 1.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,547 shares of company stock worth $4,275,553 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Melius raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Cisco Systems currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.74.

Cisco Systems Company 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.