Renaissance Technologies LLC Sells 2,580,000 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Renaissance Technologies LLC cut its stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 76.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 786,705 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after selling 2,580,000 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $46,573,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,297,905,000. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 77,216,513 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $4,571,218,000 after buying an additional 13,285,052 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at $560,722,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in Cisco Systems by 50.3% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 6,627,956 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $392,375,000 after purchasing an additional 2,219,311 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 13,880,257 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $821,711,000 after purchasing an additional 2,114,994 shares during the period. 73.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.99, for a total value of $46,474.38. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 44,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,693,013.45. This trade represents a 1.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 19,929 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $1,283,626.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 335,605 shares in the company, valued at $21,616,318.05. This represents a 5.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 66,547 shares of company stock worth $4,275,553. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on CSCO. Rosenblatt Securities raised shares of Cisco Systems from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $66.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Melius upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com lowered Cisco Systems from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $65.74.

Cisco Systems Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of CSCO traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $57.46. 3,994,177 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,636,631. The company has a market cap of $228.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.09, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.86. 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. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $61.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.08.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.91 by ($0.14). Cisco Systems had a net margin of 16.96% and a return on equity of 26.08%. Research analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the network equipment provider to repurchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio is 71.62%.

Cisco Systems Company 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.