Fred Alger Management LLC Lowers Holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Fred Alger Management LLC lowered its position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 31.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 72,050 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 33,019 shares during the quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $4,265,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Navigoe LLC purchased a new position in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Campbell Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Cisco Systems by 76.7% in the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 599 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

Shares of Cisco Systems stock opened at $59.77 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $58.78 and a 200 day moving average of $59.43. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52 week low of $44.50 and a 52 week high of $66.50. The company has a market cap of $237.78 billion, a PE ratio of 26.10, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.87 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 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 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.74%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is 71.62%.

Cisco Systems declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan 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 plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on CSCO. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price target on Cisco Systems from $80.00 to $63.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Cisco Systems from $75.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, DZ Bank raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.05.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In related news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total value of $125,345.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 191,184 shares in the company, valued at $11,604,868.80. This trade represents a 1.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 736,120 shares in the company, valued at $47,413,489.20. The trade was a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 66,547 shares of company stock valued at $4,275,553. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

About Cisco Systems

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.