Saratoga Research & Investment Management Lowers Stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Saratoga Research & Investment Management decreased its position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 93.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,104 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 469,015 shares during the quarter. Saratoga Research & Investment Management’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $2,078,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 193,489,477 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $10,297,506,000 after purchasing an additional 3,241,682 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 95,630,469 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $5,075,320,000 after buying an additional 1,262,017 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth $3,297,905,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 18,718,195 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,107,930,000 after acquiring an additional 216,632 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 7.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,214,461 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $988,499,000 after acquiring an additional 1,195,469 shares in the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CSCO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, March 6th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $72.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.63.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In related news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 11,808 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total value of $760,080.96. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 200,191 shares in the company, valued at $12,886,294.67. The trade was a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were 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 trade represents a 1.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 66,547 shares of company stock worth $4,275,553 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Cisco Systems stock opened at $60.86 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company has a market capitalization of $242.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.58, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1 year low of $44.50 and a 1 year high of $66.50. The company’s fifty day moving average is $62.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.60.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (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%. Analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is 71.62%.

Cisco Systems announced 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 reacquire up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.