Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) is Ardmore Road Asset Management LP’s 10th Largest Position

Ardmore Road Asset Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 33.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 400,000 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 100,000 shares during the period. Cisco Systems comprises approximately 3.5% of Ardmore Road Asset Management LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Ardmore Road Asset Management LP’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $23,680,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CSCO. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Cisco Systems by 39.5% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 440,169 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $26,058,000 after acquiring an additional 124,529 shares during the last quarter. RFG Bristol Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $294,000. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 64,991 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $3,847,000 after purchasing an additional 2,452 shares during the last quarter. May Hill Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at $376,000. Finally, Centric Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 26.6% in the 4th quarter. Centric Wealth Management now owns 6,260 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $371,000 after purchasing an additional 1,317 shares during the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.99, for a total value of $46,474.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 44,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,693,013.45. The trade was a 1.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 19,929 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $1,283,626.89. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 335,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,616,318.05. This trade represents a 5.61 % decrease in their position. 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 corporate insiders.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $61.80 on Wednesday. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $44.50 and a 12 month high of $66.50. The company’s 50 day moving average is $62.16 and its 200-day moving average is $58.77. The firm has a market cap of $245.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.99, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is 71.62%.

Cisco Systems declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the network equipment provider to reacquire up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on CSCO. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $72.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Melius Research raised Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Cisco Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.