Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Has $55.30 Million Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lowered its holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 20.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 896,161 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after selling 223,374 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems accounts for about 1.1% of Wedge Capital Management L L P NC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $55,302,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wynn Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 26.4% in the first quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 48,319 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $2,982,000 after buying an additional 10,094 shares during the period. City Center Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 1st quarter worth approximately $224,000. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 146,908 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $9,066,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC increased its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 23.6% during the first quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 8,191 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $505,000 after purchasing an additional 1,563 shares during the period. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital raised its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 6.7% in the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 42,325 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $2,426,000 after purchasing an additional 2,656 shares in the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total value of $125,345.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 191,184 shares in the company, valued at $11,604,868.80. This represents a 1.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 29,784 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.61, for a total transaction of $1,924,344.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 688,409 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,478,105.49. This represents a 4.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 71,400 shares of company stock valued at $4,564,439 over the last 90 days. 0.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

NASDAQ:CSCO traded up $1.44 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $66.06. 20,913,335 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,153,531. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market cap of $261.60 billion, a PE ratio of 28.85, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.88. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12 month low of $44.50 and a 12 month high of $66.50. The company has a fifty day moving average of $59.61 and a 200 day moving average of $60.36.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.04. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 16.96% and a return on equity of 26.08%. The business had revenue of $14.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. Cisco Systems's revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the network equipment provider to buy up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.48%. Cisco Systems's payout ratio is currently 66.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on CSCO shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. New Street Research reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Cisco Systems from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $68.00.

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.