Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Sold by Sarasin & Partners LLP

Sarasin & Partners LLP reduced its position in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 8.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,685,627 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 239,475 shares during the period. Cisco Systems comprises approximately 1.8% of Sarasin & Partners LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Sarasin & Partners LLP owned about 0.07% of Cisco Systems worth $158,989,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quarry LP lifted its stake in Cisco Systems by 222.4% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 661 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 456 shares in the last quarter. West Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 116.6% during the 3rd quarter. West Financial Advisors LLC now owns 574 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 76.7% during 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 last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In other news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 58,188 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.49, for a total value of $3,345,228.12. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 219,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,596,059. This represents a 20.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 171,744 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.49, for a total value of $9,873,562.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 783,786 shares in the company, valued at $45,059,857.14. The trade was a 17.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 353,522 shares of company stock worth $20,349,721 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

CSCO opened at $60.23 on Monday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.50 and a 52-week high of $60.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $239.88 billion, a PE ratio of 25.85, a PEG ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.88. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $58.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.57.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 13th. The network equipment provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.04. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 25.70% and a net margin of 17.73%. The business had revenue of $13.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. Cisco Systems’s revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.66%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is 68.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Bank of America raised their target price on Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Melius upgraded Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $66.00 in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Cisco Systems from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.50.

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.