Lazard Asset Management LLC Has $26.90 Million Stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Lazard Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 87.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 454,433 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after selling 3,092,413 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $26,901,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CSCO. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,297,905,000. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 20.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 77,216,513 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $4,571,218,000 after acquiring an additional 13,285,052 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth about $560,722,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth about $413,491,000. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 187.9% in the 4th quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 7,478,872 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $442,749,000 after buying an additional 4,880,747 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company's stock.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CSCO traded down $0.64 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $63.62. 30,263,445 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,413,777. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $44.50 and a fifty-two week high of $66.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $253.10 billion, a PE ratio of 27.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.72.

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

Cisco Systems announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the network equipment provider to repurchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. Cisco Systems's payout ratio is 71.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 11,808 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 200,191 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,886,294.67. This trade represents a 5.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 owns 44,155 shares in the company, valued at $2,693,013.45. This represents a 1.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,635 shares of company stock worth $931,901. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CSCO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $63.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. DZ Bank raised shares of Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of Cisco Systems from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company raised Cisco Systems from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $72.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Cisco Systems from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently 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.