Confluence Investment Management LLC Sells 45,702 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Confluence Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 2.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,757,299 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after selling 45,702 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems comprises 1.6% of Confluence Investment Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Confluence Investment Management LLC's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $108,443,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CSCO. FMR LLC lifted its position in Cisco Systems by 20.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 77,216,513 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $4,571,218,000 after buying an additional 13,285,052 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,297,905,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Cisco Systems by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 47,238,258 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $2,796,505,000 after buying an additional 4,832,813 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Cisco Systems by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 36,471,275 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $2,159,099,000 after buying an additional 2,637,006 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Cisco Systems by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 29,419,041 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $1,741,597,000 after buying an additional 681,555 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Oliver Tuszik sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.53, for a total value of $952,950.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 131,676 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,365,376.28. This represents a 10.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.99, for a total value of $46,474.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 44,155 shares in the company, valued at $2,693,013.45. This trade represents a 1.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 41,616 shares of company stock worth $2,640,095. 0.01% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on CSCO. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on Cisco Systems from $63.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Citigroup upped their target price on Cisco Systems from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Cisco Systems from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $72.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, New Street Research reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $68.00.

Cisco Systems Stock Up 0.4%

CSCO traded up $0.23 during trading on Monday, reaching $63.27. The stock had a trading volume of 5,476,973 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,186,454. The stock's 50 day moving average is $59.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $60.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a market capitalization of $250.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.63, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.89. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a one year low of $44.50 and a one year high of $66.50.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $14.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.05 billion. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 26.08% and a net margin of 16.96%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect 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 repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the network equipment provider to purchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.59%. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.94%.

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.