Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Sold by Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C.

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. cut its stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,068,821 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after selling 38,800 shares during the quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned about 0.10% of Cisco Systems worth $240,874,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,297,905,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 20.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 77,216,513 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $4,571,218,000 after purchasing an additional 13,285,052 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth about $560,722,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in Cisco Systems by 143.2% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,986,627 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $295,208,000 after buying an additional 2,936,567 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in Cisco Systems by 50.3% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 6,627,956 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $392,375,000 after buying an additional 2,219,311 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CSCO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $73.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Cisco Systems from $72.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Cisco Systems from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Melius Research upgraded Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, DZ Bank raised Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $64.68.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

Cisco Systems stock opened at $56.29 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $223.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.16. 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.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) 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 return on equity of 26.08% and a net margin of 16.96%. Equities analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were paid a $0.41 dividend. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio is currently 71.62%.

Cisco Systems announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the network equipment provider to purchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's management 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 on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total value of $125,345.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 191,184 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,604,868.80. The trade was a 1.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.99, for a total transaction of $46,474.38. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 44,155 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,693,013.45. This represents a 1.70 % decrease in their position. 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. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.