Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC cut its position in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 7.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,362,665 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 344,220 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems makes up approximately 1.0% of Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $258,270,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CSCO. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Cisco Systems by 76.7% in 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 in the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the third quarter worth $40,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter worth about $51,000. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cisco Systems news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 19,929 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $1,283,626.89. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 335,605 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,616,318.05. This trade represents a 5.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $2,060,025.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 736,120 shares in the company, valued at $47,413,489.20. This trade represents a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 79,729 shares of company stock valued at $5,058,748 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Melius upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup upped their target price on Cisco Systems from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.53.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

CSCO stock opened at $63.24 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $60.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $251.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.62, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.84. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.50 and a 12-month 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by ($0.14). Cisco Systems had a net margin of 16.96% and a return on equity of 26.08%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan 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 reacquire up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.59%. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is presently 71.62%.

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.