Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Sold by Banco Santander S.A.

Banco Santander S.A. trimmed its stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 26.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 311,274 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 113,110 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $18,427,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CSCO. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 76.7% during the 4th quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 599 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on CSCO shares. Melius upgraded Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Citigroup restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.63.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In other news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 586 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.69, for a total value of $34,392.34. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 50,767 shares in the company, valued at $2,979,515.23. This represents a 1.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $2,060,025.03. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 736,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,413,489.20. The trade was a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 67,348 shares of company stock valued at $4,318,181 in the last three months. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CSCO opened at $63.94 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $61.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $57.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market cap of $254.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.92, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1 year low of $44.50 and a 1 year high of $66.50.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.91 by ($0.14). Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 26.08% and a net margin of 16.96%. Research analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.56%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.62%.

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

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.