Two Sigma Advisers LP Decreases Holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Two Sigma Advisers LP cut its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,371,200 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 447,800 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems makes up 0.9% of Two Sigma Advisers LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Two Sigma Advisers LP owned 0.16% of Cisco Systems worth $377,175,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tybourne Capital Management HK Ltd. increased its holdings in Cisco Systems by 561.3% in the 4th quarter. Tybourne Capital Management HK Ltd. now owns 92,501 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $5,476,000 after acquiring an additional 78,513 shares during the last quarter. Texas Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth about $2,758,000. Tolleson Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth about $327,000. Trace Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth about $513,000. Finally, TrinityPoint Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Cisco Systems by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 21,363 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,265,000 after acquiring an additional 1,247 shares during the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of CSCO opened at $63.62 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $253.10 billion, a PE ratio of 27.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.89. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $58.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.72. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.50 and a 12-month high of $66.50.

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. The firm had revenue of $14.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.05 billion. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 26.08% and a net margin of 16.96%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.88 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.58%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is 71.62%.

Cisco Systems declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the network equipment provider to purchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CSCO. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $63.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com upgraded Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday. New Street Research restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Cisco Systems from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.00.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In related news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total transaction of $125,345.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 191,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,604,868.80. This trade represents a 1.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 11,808 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total value of $760,080.96. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 200,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,886,294.67. This represents a 5.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 14,635 shares of company stock valued at $931,901. 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.