ING Groep NV Decreases Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

ING Groep NV lessened its holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 19.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,417,902 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 332,150 shares during the period. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $83,940,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Boston Financial Mangement LLC boosted its position in Cisco Systems by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC now owns 67,514 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,997,000 after buying an additional 2,253 shares during the period. Advyzon Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $549,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 2,592,101 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $153,452,000 after purchasing an additional 145,835 shares in the last quarter. Sunpointe LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 66.2% in the 4th quarter. Sunpointe LLC now owns 9,076 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $537,000 after purchasing an additional 3,614 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LMG Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. LMG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 37,570 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,224,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of CSCO opened at $64.84 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market cap of $258.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.31, a PEG ratio of 4.55 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a 50-day moving average of $60.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $55.95. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.50 and a 12-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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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, research analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems announced that its board has initiated a stock 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 purchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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 $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is currently 69.87%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 4,881 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.73, for a total value of $291,542.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 51,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,101,838.63. The trade was a 8.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $2,060,025.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 736,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,413,489.20. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 67,921 shares of company stock valued at $4,298,667 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CSCO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.53.

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.