Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Stock Position Reduced by Hourglass Capital LLC

Hourglass Capital LLC decreased its stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 140,852 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,565 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems makes up approximately 2.3% of Hourglass Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest position. Hourglass Capital LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $8,338,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CSCO. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in Cisco Systems by 57.7% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 5,126 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 1,876 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 1,155,964 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $60,979,000 after buying an additional 38,000 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 9,029,594 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $480,555,000 after buying an additional 52,711 shares in the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Cisco Systems in the third quarter worth approximately $226,000. Finally, Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC raised its position in Cisco Systems by 4.7% during the third quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 8,452 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $450,000 after acquiring an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CSCO has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.53.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In related news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 21,230 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.07, for a total value of $1,211,596.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 213,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,203,506.38. The trade was a 9.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.69, for a total transaction of $34,392.34. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 50,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,979,515.23. This represents a 1.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 37,239 shares of company stock worth $2,166,612. 0.01% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

Shares of Cisco Systems stock opened at $64.87 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $258.36 billion, a PE ratio of 27.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.63 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $60.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.54. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $44.50 and a fifty-two week high of $66.50.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released 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 net margin of 17.73% and a return on equity of 25.70%. Analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 2.97 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.53%. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is currently 68.67%.

Cisco Systems declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the network equipment provider to repurchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.