Fred Alger Management LLC Sells 33,019 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Fred Alger Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 31.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 72,050 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 33,019 shares during the period. Fred Alger Management LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $4,265,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of CSCO. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Navigoe LLC bought a new position in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Campbell Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Cisco Systems by 76.7% in the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 599 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.99, for a total transaction of $46,474.38. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 44,155 shares in the company, valued at $2,693,013.45. This represents 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, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 11,808 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,547 shares of company stock worth $4,275,553 in the last 90 days. 0.01% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CSCO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Rosenblatt Securities cut their price objective on Cisco Systems from $80.00 to $63.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Cisco Systems from $73.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Cisco Systems from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.05.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of CSCO stock opened at $59.77 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $237.78 billion, a PE ratio of 26.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.89. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1 year low of $44.50 and a 1 year high of $66.50. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $58.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by ($0.14). Cisco Systems had a net margin of 16.96% and a return on equity of 26.08%. Research analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the network equipment provider to purchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were issued a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.74%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.62%.

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.