Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Sold by Nexus Investment Management ULC

Nexus Investment Management ULC cut its position in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 656,007 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 28,208 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems accounts for about 3.9% of Nexus Investment Management ULC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Nexus Investment Management ULC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $38,836,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. West Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Cisco Systems by 116.6% during the 3rd quarter. West Financial Advisors LLC now owns 574 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 76.7% in the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 599 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its holdings in Cisco Systems by 222.4% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 661 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 456 shares in the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Cisco Systems during the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on CSCO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $66.00 in a report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $49.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Cisco Systems from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.50.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ CSCO opened at $60.23 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $58.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $53.52. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.50 and a 12-month high of $60.95. The company has a market capitalization of $239.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.85, a P/E/G ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 13th. The network equipment provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.04. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 25.70% and a net margin of 17.73%. The business had revenue of $13.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 86,351 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.49, for a total value of $4,964,318.99. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 365,314 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,001,901.86. This trade represents a 19.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 171,744 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.49, for a total value of $9,873,562.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 783,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,059,857.14. The trade was a 17.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 353,522 shares of company stock valued at $20,349,721 over the last quarter. 0.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Cisco Systems Company 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.