Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Position Lessened by MV Capital Management Inc.

MV Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 16.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,241 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 996 shares during the quarter. MV Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $310,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 175,424 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $9,336,000 after acquiring an additional 19,800 shares in the last quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd grew its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 74.7% in the third quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 97,326 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $5,160,000 after acquiring an additional 41,625 shares during the last quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Cisco Systems by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 49,812 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $2,651,000 after purchasing an additional 702 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,879,518 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $100,028,000 after purchasing an additional 34,493 shares during the period. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 4.7% in the third quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 105,069 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,592,000 after buying an additional 4,759 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of Cisco Systems stock opened at $60.86 on Friday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12 month low of $44.50 and a 12 month high of $66.50. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market cap of $242.12 billion, a PE ratio of 26.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (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%. Research analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

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

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given 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 2.69%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $2,060,025.03. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 736,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,413,489.20. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total transaction of $125,345.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 191,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,604,868.80. This represents a 1.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,547 shares of company stock valued at $4,275,553 in the last three months. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.63.

About Cisco Systems

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.