Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Reduces Holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. trimmed its position in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,068,821 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 38,800 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C.’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $240,874,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Campbell Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 76.7% during the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 599 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In related news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 19,929 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $1,283,626.89. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 335,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,616,318.05. This represents a 5.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 736,120 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,413,489.20. This trade represents a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 66,547 shares of company stock worth $4,275,553. 0.01% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $55.04 on Wednesday. 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 $218.97 billion, a PE ratio of 24.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.86. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $60.35 and a 200-day moving average of $59.16. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a one year low of $44.50 and a one year high of $66.50.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by ($0.14). Cisco Systems had a net margin of 16.96% and a return on equity of 26.08%. As a group, equities 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 stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the network equipment provider to buy up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.98%. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is currently 71.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Melius raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $73.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com downgraded Cisco Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Cisco Systems from $73.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $64.68.

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.