Sandy Spring Bank Cuts Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Sandy Spring Bank cut its stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 31.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 124,275 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after selling 55,822 shares during the quarter. Sandy Spring Bank's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $7,357,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of CSCO. Swedbank AB grew its stake in Cisco Systems by 0.6% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 9,029,594 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $480,555,000 after acquiring an additional 52,711 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 52.4% in the 3rd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,615 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $139,000 after purchasing an additional 899 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,529,000. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Cisco Systems by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,547,956 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $188,822,000 after purchasing an additional 150,539 shares in the last quarter. Finally, R. W. Roge & Company Inc. acquired a new position in Cisco Systems during the third quarter worth $211,000. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CSCO traded up $0.67 during trading on Monday, reaching $60.97. 28,313,023 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,050,482. The company has a 50-day moving average of $61.95 and a 200-day moving average of $58.17. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.50 and a 52-week high of $66.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $242.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Remove Ads

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 EPS 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%. Analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. This is an increase from Cisco Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio is currently 71.62%.

Cisco Systems declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the network equipment provider to reacquire up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on CSCO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price 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. Citigroup reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Barclays reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered 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 assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $66.63.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In other news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of the company's 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 owns 191,184 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,604,868.80. This represents a 1.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 44,155 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,693,013.45. This represents a 1.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,547 shares of company stock valued at $4,275,553 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.

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.