Peloton Wealth Strategists Sells 1,400 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Peloton Wealth Strategists cut its holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 46,375 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,400 shares during the period. Peloton Wealth Strategists’ holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $2,745,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 3rd quarter worth about $798,000. HighVista Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,698,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Cisco Systems by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 93,357 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,527,000 after buying an additional 10,813 shares in the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new stake in Cisco Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at about $502,000. Finally, Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. increased its position in Cisco Systems by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. now owns 635,667 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $33,830,000 after buying an additional 92,179 shares in the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CSCO opened at $63.81 on Friday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $44.50 and a twelve month high of $66.50. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $61.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.66. The company has a market capitalization of $253.85 billion, a PE ratio of 27.86, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by ($0.14). Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 26.08% and a net margin of 16.96%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share 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 reacquire up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a $0.41 dividend. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.57%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.62%.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In related news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 3,042 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.19, for a total value of $180,055.98. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 207,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,299,563.62. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 586 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.69, for a total transaction of $34,392.34. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 50,767 shares in the company, valued at $2,979,515.23. The trade was a 1.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 74,848 shares of company stock worth $4,767,206. Insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on CSCO. DZ Bank raised Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Melius Research raised Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Cisco Systems from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America boosted their target price on Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.63.

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.