Vanguard Group Inc. Trims Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Vanguard Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 387,084,206 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after selling 1,533,672 shares during the period. Cisco Systems makes up approximately 0.4% of Vanguard Group Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 9.72% of Cisco Systems worth $22,915,385,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth about $132,000. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $798,000. HighVista Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,698,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 93,357 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $5,527,000 after acquiring an additional 10,813 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 76.4% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,947 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $1,003,000 after acquiring an additional 7,338 shares during the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Cisco Systems from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Melius upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $66.63.

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Cisco Systems Price Performance

Shares of CSCO stock traded down $0.40 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $61.40. The stock had a trading volume of 25,714,633 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,110,283. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $62.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $244.27 billion, a PE ratio of 26.81, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79. 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 released 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 research analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.67%. This is a boost from Cisco Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio is 71.62%.

Cisco Systems declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the network equipment provider to buy up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In related news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 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 $2,060,025.03. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 736,120 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $47,413,489.20. This trade represents a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.99, for a total value 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 represents a 1.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,547 shares of company stock valued at $4,275,553 over the last three months. 0.01% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.