Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Sold by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama lessened its position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,877,702 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after selling 28,709 shares during the period. Cisco Systems comprises 0.6% of Retirement Systems of Alabama's portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned about 0.07% of Cisco Systems worth $145,382,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new position in Cisco Systems during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Cisco Systems by 41.9% during the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 704 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Cisco Systems by 3,500.0% during the fourth quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 720 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Institutional investors own 73.33% of the company's stock.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

CSCO stock traded down $0.24 during trading on Friday, hitting $47.86. 14,658,910 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,851,638. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52 week low of $45.56 and a 52 week high of $58.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.37. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $50.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $193.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.87.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $12.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.71 billion. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 23.49% and a return on equity of 33.01%. The business's revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.76 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 4th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.34%. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on CSCO shares. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, February 15th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $52.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com cut shares of Cisco Systems from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Bank of America raised shares of Cisco Systems from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $55.53.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In related news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 2,497 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $124,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 58,121 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,906,050. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 3,002 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.01, for a total transaction of $150,130.02. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 191,559 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,579,865.59. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 2,497 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $124,850.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 58,121 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,906,050. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 19,441 shares of company stock worth $972,080 in the last 90 days. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.