Transcend Capital Advisors LLC Reduces Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Transcend Capital Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 63,345 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 915 shares during the quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $3,200,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 3.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 57,102,221 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $3,069,815,000 after buying an additional 1,790,717 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 3.8% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 50,549,422 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $2,717,537,000 after buying an additional 1,847,682 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 3.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 33,536,256 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,802,909,000 after buying an additional 1,181,327 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 25.0% in the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 18,750,237 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $947,262,000 after buying an additional 3,753,165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 3.7% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,376,937 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $611,624,000 after buying an additional 405,699 shares in the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CSCO shares. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, February 15th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $52.00 price target on the stock. Melius downgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Melius Research reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $53.00 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.53.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CSCO traded down $0.24 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $47.86. 14,658,910 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,851,638. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $48.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.06. The firm has a market cap of $193.79 billion, a PE ratio of 14.55, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.26. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52 week low of $45.56 and a 52 week high of $58.19.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $12.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.71 billion. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 33.01% and a net margin of 23.49%. The firm’s revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.76 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 4th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.34%. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is 48.63%.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 13,942 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $697,100.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 328,491 shares in the company, valued at $16,424,550. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 13,942 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $697,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 328,491 shares in the company, valued at $16,424,550. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 3,002 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.01, for a total value of $150,130.02. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 191,559 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,579,865.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 19,441 shares of company stock worth $972,080. Company insiders own 0.02% 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.