Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Position Decreased by Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC

Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC reduced its holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 78.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,000 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 50,550 shares during the quarter. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $829,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.6% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 9,029,594 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $480,555,000 after purchasing an additional 52,711 shares during the last quarter. McAdam LLC lifted its stake in Cisco Systems by 8.4% during the third quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 13,023 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $693,000 after buying an additional 1,008 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Cisco Systems by 6.8% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 171,490 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $9,127,000 after buying an additional 10,895 shares in the last quarter. HT Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the third quarter worth about $211,000. Finally, apricus wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 4.3% in the third quarter. apricus wealth LLC now owns 50,949 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $2,712,000 after acquiring an additional 2,120 shares in the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Cisco Systems stock opened at $63.98 on Friday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.50 and a 12-month high of $66.50. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $254.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.94, a P/E/G ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.84. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the network equipment provider to buy up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.56%. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is 71.62%.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In other news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 4,881 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.73, for a total transaction of $291,542.13. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 51,931 shares in the company, valued at $3,101,838.63. The trade was a 8.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 3,042 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.19, for a total transaction of $180,055.98. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 207,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,299,563.62. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 67,921 shares of company stock valued at $4,298,667. Insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on CSCO. DZ Bank raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. BNP Paribas raised Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $72.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $66.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.53.

Cisco Systems 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.