Slate Path Capital LP Cuts Stock Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Slate Path Capital LP cut its holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 18.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,362,872 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 978,800 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems accounts for about 4.7% of Slate Path Capital LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Slate Path Capital LP’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $258,282,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Campbell Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Cisco Systems by 76.7% during the 4th quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 599 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the period. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 191,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,604,868.80. This trade represents a 1.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.99, for a total value of $46,474.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 44,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,693,013.45. This represents a 1.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 66,547 shares of company stock worth $4,275,553. Insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Trading Down 2.5 %

CSCO opened at $54.37 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $216.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $60.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.19. 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 1-year low of $44.50 and a 1-year high of $66.50.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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%. Analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 dividend yield of 3.02%. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is presently 71.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on CSCO. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $66.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Cisco Systems from $73.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Cisco Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.58.

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.