Saratoga Research & Investment Management Reduces Holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Saratoga Research & Investment Management decreased its position in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 2.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 559,054 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 16,118 shares during the period. Cisco Systems comprises approximately 1.3% of Saratoga Research & Investment Management’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Saratoga Research & Investment Management’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $27,902,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its stake in Cisco Systems by 1,096.2% during the 4th quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 2,906,676 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $146,845,000 after buying an additional 2,663,676 shares during the period. Roble Belko & Company Inc increased its stake in Cisco Systems by 77.1% during the 4th quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 6,405 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $324,000 after buying an additional 2,788 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth $28,685,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its holdings in Cisco Systems by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 4,470,521 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $240,335,000 after acquiring an additional 49,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Cisco Systems by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC now owns 192,674 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $9,734,000 after acquiring an additional 1,097 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CSCO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $58.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $55.00 to $60.00 in a report on Monday, April 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.47.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Cisco Systems stock traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $47.51. 23,921,057 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,878,226. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $47.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $48.79. The firm has a market cap of $191.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.00, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.85. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $44.95 and a fifty-two week high of $58.19.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 15th. The network equipment provider reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.18. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 21.88% and a return on equity of 30.82%. The company had revenue of $12.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. Cisco Systems’s revenue was down 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.14 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, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 5th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cisco Systems news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 3,378 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.89, for a total transaction of $155,016.42. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 52,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,430,013.17. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 2,619 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.34, for a total value of $118,745.46. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 176,384 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,997,250.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 3,378 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.89, for a total transaction of $155,016.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 52,953 shares in the company, valued at $2,430,013.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 41,106 shares of company stock worth $1,908,923. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.