Chatham Capital Group Inc. Reduces Stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Chatham Capital Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 43.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 88,286 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 66,635 shares during the period. Chatham Capital Group Inc.’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $5,448,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Cisco Systems by 20.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 77,216,513 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,571,218,000 after purchasing an additional 13,285,052 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,297,905,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 47,238,258 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $2,796,505,000 after buying an additional 4,832,813 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 36,471,275 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $2,159,099,000 after acquiring an additional 2,637,006 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 29,419,041 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,741,597,000 after acquiring an additional 681,555 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $63.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. New Street Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Friday, May 16th. DZ Bank raised Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.00.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of CSCO stock opened at $64.39 on Thursday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.50 and a 12-month high of $66.50. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $59.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.22. 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 company has a market cap of $254.98 billion, a PE ratio of 28.12, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.88.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.04. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 16.96% and a return on equity of 26.08%. The business had revenue of $14.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. Cisco Systems’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.55%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.94%.

Cisco Systems declared that its board has authorized a share buyback 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 buy up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In related news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 9,643 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.50, for a total transaction of $612,330.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 181,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,505,311. This trade represents a 5.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 191,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,604,868.80. This represents a 1.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 41,616 shares of company stock worth $2,640,095. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by 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.