Congress Asset Management Co. MA Cuts Stock Holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Congress Asset Management Co. MA decreased its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 7.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 258,377 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 21,994 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. MA’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $13,053,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at about $168,000. Fortis Group Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 6,175 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $322,000 after buying an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Northwest Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at about $724,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Cisco Systems by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 3,168,932 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $160,094,000 after purchasing an additional 165,011 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth approximately $98,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of CSCO stock traded up $0.16 on Friday, hitting $45.68. 15,274,176 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,183,470. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $47.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $48.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $184.04 billion, a PE ratio of 15.38, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.85. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $44.97 and a twelve month high of $58.19.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 15th. The network equipment provider reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.18. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 21.88% and a return on equity of 30.82%. The company had revenue of $12.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. Cisco Systems’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.14 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 5th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.50%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cisco Systems news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 26,331 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.10, for a total transaction of $1,213,859.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 725,363 shares in the company, valued at $33,439,234.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Cisco Systems news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 26,331 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.10, for a total transaction of $1,213,859.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 725,363 shares in the company, valued at $33,439,234.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 2,619 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.34, for a total transaction of $118,745.46. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 176,384 shares in the company, valued at $7,997,250.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,106 shares of company stock worth $1,908,923 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $53.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Friday, April 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $52.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.47.

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.