Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Sold by Candriam S.C.A.

Candriam S.C.A. trimmed its position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 50.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 706,105 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 705,026 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $41,801,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CSCO. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 76.7% in the 4th quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 599 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth about $49,000. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In related news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 3,042 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.19, for a total value of $180,055.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 207,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,299,563.62. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $2,060,025.03. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 736,120 shares in the company, valued at $47,413,489.20. The trade was a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 74,848 shares of company stock valued at $4,767,206. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

Shares of CSCO opened at $63.96 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $254.45 billion, a PE ratio of 27.93, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $61.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.87. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $44.50 and a twelve month high of $66.50.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.91 by ($0.14). Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 26.08% and a net margin of 16.96%. As a group, research analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the network equipment provider to buy up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.56%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on CSCO shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. DZ Bank raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Melius raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $57.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cisco Systems has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.63.

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.