Slate Path Capital LP Sells 978,800 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Slate Path Capital LP lessened its stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 18.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,362,872 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after selling 978,800 shares during the period. Cisco Systems comprises approximately 4.7% of Slate Path Capital LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Slate Path Capital LP owned approximately 0.11% of Cisco Systems worth $258,282,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pflug Koory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.5% in the 4th 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 during the period. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc raised its holdings in Cisco Systems by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 2,070 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $123,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Fairhaven Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Cisco Systems by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Fairhaven Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,581 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $449,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. BlackDiamond Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. BlackDiamond Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,656 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $335,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maple Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Cisco Systems by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Maple Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,984 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $709,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In related news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.99, for a total transaction of $46,474.38. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 44,155 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,693,013.45. This trade represents a 1.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $2,060,025.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 736,120 shares in the company, valued at $47,413,489.20. This represents a 4.16 % 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 quarter. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CSCO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Melius raised shares of Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $72.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $73.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Barclays reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Seven 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $64.68.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of CSCO traded up $0.42 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $56.71. The company had a trading volume of 16,493,138 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,200,510. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $44.50 and a fifty-two week high of $66.50. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.16. The stock has a market cap of $225.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.76, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last posted 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 3rd. This is a boost from Cisco Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems's payout ratio is currently 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.