Conning Inc. Reduces Holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Conning Inc. lessened its stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 16.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 652,315 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 128,340 shares during the period. Cisco Systems comprises 1.4% of Conning Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Conning Inc.’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $38,617,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter valued at about $798,000. HighVista Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,698,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 93,357 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,527,000 after purchasing an additional 10,813 shares during the period. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI raised its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 1,658,417 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $88,261,000 after buying an additional 162,544 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $502,000. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Cisco Systems stock opened at $62.27 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $248.01 billion, a PE ratio of 26.73, a PEG ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1 year low of $44.50 and a 1 year high of $63.25. The company’s 50-day moving average is $59.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $54.87.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 13th. The network equipment provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.04. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 17.73% and a return on equity of 25.70%. The business had revenue of $13.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.78 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. Cisco Systems’s revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.57%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 21,230 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 213,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,203,506.38. This trade represents a 9.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 586 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.69, for a total transaction of $34,392.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 50,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,979,515.23. This trade represents a 1.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 353,522 shares of company stock worth $20,349,721. Insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on CSCO shares. StockNews.com upgraded Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Cisco Systems from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.72.

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.