Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Sold by Bell Asset Management Ltd

Bell Asset Management Ltd reduced its position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 38.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 123,586 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 78,193 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems comprises approximately 1.3% of Bell Asset Management Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Bell Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $7,316,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 92.3% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,271 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 610 shares during the last quarter. Bontempo Ohly Capital Mgmt LLC boosted its stake in Cisco Systems by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bontempo Ohly Capital Mgmt LLC now owns 80,435 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $4,281,000 after purchasing an additional 2,082 shares in the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its position in Cisco Systems by 145.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 1,654 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 980 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC grew its position in Cisco Systems by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 932,221 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $49,613,000 after purchasing an additional 12,849 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Cisco Systems by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,583,832 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $137,512,000 after purchasing an additional 52,242 shares in the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ CSCO opened at $54.54 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $216.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.82, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.86. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $61.91 and a 200 day moving average of $58.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. 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 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 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 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is currently 71.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total transaction of $125,345.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 191,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,604,868.80. This represents a 1.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $2,693,013.45. This represents a 1.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 66,547 shares of company stock worth $4,275,553 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CSCO has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. DZ Bank raised Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Cisco Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.63.

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.