Cisco Systems, Inc. $CSCO is Wedge Capital Management L L P NC's 4th Largest Position

Key Points

• Wedge Capital Management trimmed its Cisco stake by 9.5% to 858,155 shares, making CSCO its 4th-largest holding at roughly $66.1 million (1.2% of the firm's portfolio).
• Insiders sold a total of 46,431 Cisco shares worth about $3.57 million last quarter (examples include Maria Victoria Wong and Jeetendra I. Patel), and corporate insiders now own just 0.01% of the company.
• Market view and results: Wall Street has a consensus "Moderate Buy" on CSCO with an average price target of $89.55 as several brokers raised targets; Cisco also beat quarterly EPS estimates ($1.04 vs. $1.02) and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.42 (2.1% yield).

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC decreased its stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 9.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 858,155 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after selling 89,691 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems makes up 1.2% of Wedge Capital Management L L P NC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $66,104,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bare Financial Services Inc grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 531.0% during the second quarter. Bare Financial Services Inc now owns 366 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Cisco Systems by 96.2% in the third quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 408 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Cisco Systems by 115.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 468 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 2,179 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.74, for a total transaction of $169,395.46. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 28,807 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,239,456.18. This trade represents a 7.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jeetendra I. Patel sold 11,248 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.00, for a total value of $854,848.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 262,776 shares in the company, valued at $19,970,976. This trade represents a 4.10% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 46,431 shares of company stock valued at $3,574,820 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on CSCO. Argus raised shares of Cisco Systems to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $82.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Cisco Systems from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price target on Cisco Systems from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Cisco Systems from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $89.55.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CSCO opened at $79.92 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $315.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.87. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $52.11 and a twelve month high of $88.18. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $78.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $75.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The network equipment provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $15.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.11 billion. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 19.22% and a return on equity of 27.88%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.94 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 2nd. This is an increase from Cisco Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Cisco Systems's payout ratio is 57.54%.

About Cisco Systems

Cisco Systems, Inc is a global technology company that designs, manufactures and sells networking hardware, software and telecommunications equipment. Its core business focuses on enabling enterprise and service-provider networks through products such as routers, switches, network security appliances and wireless systems. Over time Cisco has broadened its portfolio to emphasize software-defined networking, cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure and edge computing solutions that help organizations build and manage modern IT environments.

In addition to hardware, Cisco offers a growing range of software platforms and subscription services for network management, security, analytics and collaboration.

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