Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Position Lessened by Banco Santander S.A.

Banco Santander S.A. trimmed its position in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 26.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 311,274 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 113,110 shares during the period. 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.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 76.7% during the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 599 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the third quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth $49,000. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

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

Cisco Systems Stock Up 0.8 %

CSCO stock opened at $63.94 on Friday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $44.50 and a twelve month high of $66.50. The company has a market cap of $254.37 billion, a PE ratio of 27.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $61.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.34. 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 released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 16.96% and a return on equity of 26.08%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 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 2.56%. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is presently 71.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on CSCO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday. Bank of America raised their target price on Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. BNP Paribas upgraded Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $72.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.