Troy Asset Management Ltd Lowers Stock Holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Troy Asset Management Ltd cut its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 25.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 582,855 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 194,583 shares during the period. Cisco Systems comprises about 1.2% of Troy Asset Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Troy Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $34,505,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. RiverFront Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 23.9% in the fourth quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC now owns 6,659 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $394,000 after purchasing an additional 1,286 shares in the last quarter. Alerus Financial NA grew its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Alerus Financial NA now owns 116,386 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $6,890,000 after acquiring an additional 4,176 shares in the last quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 94,447 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $5,591,000 after acquiring an additional 1,562 shares in the last quarter. Vertex Planning Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at $243,000. Finally, Slagle Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. Slagle Financial LLC now owns 59,484 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,521,000 after acquiring an additional 8,495 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of CSCO opened at $60.86 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.47. The firm has a market cap of $242.12 billion, a PE ratio of 26.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.50 and a 12-month high of $66.50. 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 (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued 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, equities analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

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 paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.62%.

Cisco Systems declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the network equipment provider to repurchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on CSCO. BNP Paribas raised Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $72.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Citigroup reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $2,060,025.03. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 736,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,413,489.20. This trade represents a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were 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 $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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 66,547 shares of company stock valued at $4,275,553. 0.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.