Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Sells 9,579 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS decreased its position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 885,563 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after selling 9,579 shares during the period. Cisco Systems comprises approximately 1.0% of Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS's holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $52,425,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pflug Koory LLC increased its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Pflug Koory LLC now owns 33,026 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $1,955,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Cisco Systems by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Pathway Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,791 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Cisco Systems by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC now owns 10,591 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $627,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 31,744 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $1,879,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aviso Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 2.4% in the third quarter. Aviso Wealth Management now owns 7,615 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $405,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company's stock.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

Shares of CSCO traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $64.64. The stock had a trading volume of 4,910,286 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,347,625. The company has a market capitalization of $257.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.84. 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 company's 50-day moving average is $60.55 and its 200 day moving average is $56.01.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.62%.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In related news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 4,881 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.73, for a total value of $291,542.13. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 51,931 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,101,838.63. The trade was a 8.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kristina M. Johnson sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.87, for a total transaction of $449,025.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 65,915 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,946,331.05. The trade was a 10.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 67,921 shares of company stock worth $4,298,667. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CSCO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America increased their price target on Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $66.53.

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.