Syntax Research Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Syntax Research Inc. decreased its position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 70.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,581 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 8,365 shares during the period. Syntax Research Inc.’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $212,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Campbell Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 76.7% during the 4th quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 599 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on CSCO. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Citigroup restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Cisco Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Seven equities research 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.63.

Cisco Systems Trading Down 0.5 %

CSCO stock opened at $60.30 on Monday. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.50 and a 12-month high of $66.50. The stock has a market cap of $239.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.33, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79. The business’s 50-day moving average is $61.95 and its 200 day moving average is $58.17.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is currently 71.62%.

Cisco Systems announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to buyback $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the network equipment provider to reacquire up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In other news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total transaction of $125,345.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 191,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,604,868.80. The trade was a 1.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.99, for a total transaction of $46,474.38. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 44,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,693,013.45. The trade was a 1.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 66,547 shares of company stock worth $4,275,553 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

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.