B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Sells 58,982 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG lowered its position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 8.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 655,655 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 58,982 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $38,815,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,297,905,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at $560,722,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its stake in Cisco Systems by 327.5% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 6,819,000 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $362,907,000 after acquiring an additional 5,223,800 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 79.6% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 8,971,494 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $477,463,000 after acquiring an additional 3,975,028 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 193,489,477 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $10,297,506,000 after acquiring an additional 3,241,682 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

Cisco Systems stock opened at $60.86 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $242.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.58, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a one year low of $44.50 and a one year high of $66.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $62.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.60.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 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 research analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to buyback $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the network equipment provider to reacquire up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is 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 given a dividend of $0.41 per share. This is a positive change 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 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is 71.62%.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In related news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.99, for a total value of $46,474.38. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 44,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,693,013.45. This trade represents a 1.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total transaction of $125,345.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 191,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,604,868.80. The trade was a 1.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 66,547 shares of company stock valued at $4,275,553. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Melius raised Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $66.00 to $73.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Melius Research upgraded Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.63.

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.