Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Purchases 261,400 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. boosted its position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 82.2% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 579,500 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 261,400 shares during the period. Cisco Systems comprises about 0.7% of Polar Asset Management Partners Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc.’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $30,841,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 14.0% in the second quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 32,362 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,538,000 after acquiring an additional 3,980 shares during the period. Lantz Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 60,993 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,898,000 after purchasing an additional 736 shares in the last quarter. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Cisco Systems by 4.7% in the second quarter. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 6,512 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $309,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD lifted its stake in Cisco Systems by 16.4% in the second quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 4,035,776 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $191,726,000 after buying an additional 569,006 shares during the period. Finally, Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. increased its stake in Cisco Systems by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. now owns 95,064 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,516,000 after purchasing an additional 2,830 shares in the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cisco Systems Stock Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $59.48 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $236.89 billion, a PE ratio of 25.53, a P/E/G ratio of 4.43 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1-year low of $44.50 and a 1-year high of $59.87. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $56.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.70.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 13th. The network equipment provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $13.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.78 billion. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 17.73% and a return on equity of 25.70%. Cisco Systems’s revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CSCO. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Cisco Systems to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Cisco Systems from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.94.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 1,328 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.92, for a total value of $64,965.76. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 132,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,501,957.20. The trade was a 0.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 638 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.09, for a total value of $31,319.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 46,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,258,974.53. This trade represents a 1.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 344,360 shares of company stock valued at $19,782,533. 0.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.