Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Sold by Kensington Investment Counsel LLC

Kensington Investment Counsel LLC trimmed its position in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 12.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,503 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,068 shares during the period. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $444,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Campbell Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Cisco Systems by 76.7% during the 4th quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 599 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter worth $40,000. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. DZ Bank raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Rosenblatt Securities raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, Cisco Systems presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.63.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $60.89 on Tuesday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $44.50 and a fifty-two week high of $66.50. The company has a market cap of $242.24 billion, a PE ratio of 26.59, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $61.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) 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 return on equity of 26.08% and a net margin of 16.96%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

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

Cisco Systems declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program 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 purchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $11,604,868.80. The trade was a 1.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.99, for a total transaction of $46,474.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 44,155 shares in the company, valued at $2,693,013.45. This represents a 1.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 66,547 shares of company stock worth $4,275,553. 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.