Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Sold by Applied Finance Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Applied Finance Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Cisco Systems by 50.6%, selling 594,264 shares and holding 581,149 shares, which is valued at approximately $35.86 million.
• Institutional investors own 73.33% of Cisco's stock, with significant increases in holdings reported by firms such as FMR LLC and GAMMA Investing LLC.
• Cisco Systems recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.41 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 2.39% and a payout ratio of 66.94%.

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC lowered its position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 50.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 581,149 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after selling 594,264 shares during the period. Cisco Systems makes up about 2.6% of Applied Finance Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $35,863,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS lifted its stake in Cisco Systems by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 892,064 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $55,049,000 after acquiring an additional 6,501 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,298 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $389,000 after buying an additional 612 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 28.9% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,037,909 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $249,180,000 after buying an additional 904,548 shares during the last quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario raised its position in Cisco Systems by 44.6% during the fourth quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 193,478 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $11,454,000 after acquiring an additional 59,680 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 2.6% in the first quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 111,510 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $6,882,000 after acquiring an additional 2,839 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CSCO. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. CICC Research began coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Monday, July 14th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $78.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded Cisco Systems from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Cisco Systems from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $72.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, KeyCorp started coverage on Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $77.00 target price for the company. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $70.35.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CSCO traded up $0.47 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $68.43. 5,924,090 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,168,488. The firm has a market capitalization of $270.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.94, a P/E/G ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a 50-day moving average of $66.60 and a 200 day moving average of $62.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1-year low of $44.50 and a 1-year high of $69.78.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $14.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.05 billion. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 17.60% and a return on equity of 26.48%. Cisco Systems's quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd were paid a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.94%.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In related news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 8,726 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.54, for a total value of $571,902.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 174,669 shares in the company, valued at $11,447,806.26. This trade represents a 4.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 15,678 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.52, for a total transaction of $1,027,222.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 309,543 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,281,257.36. This trade represents a 4.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 97,335 shares of company stock valued at $6,271,054. 0.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.