NTV Asset Management LLC Cuts Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

NTV Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 74,570 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 4,431 shares during the quarter. NTV Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $3,767,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CSCO. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 57,102,221 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,069,815,000 after acquiring an additional 1,790,717 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Cisco Systems by 3.8% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 50,549,422 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,717,537,000 after purchasing an additional 1,847,682 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Cisco Systems by 3.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 33,536,256 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,802,909,000 after purchasing an additional 1,181,327 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 25.0% in the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 18,750,237 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $947,262,000 after buying an additional 3,753,165 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 3.7% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,376,937 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $611,624,000 after buying an additional 405,699 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on CSCO. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. UBS Group raised their target price on Cisco Systems from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Cisco Systems in a research note on Friday, April 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $52.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $60.00 in a report on Monday, April 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.53.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of CSCO stock traded up $0.33 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $47.12. The stock had a trading volume of 17,935,302 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,219,910. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $190.80 billion, a PE ratio of 14.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.87. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $45.56 and a twelve month high of $58.19.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 33.01% and a net margin of 23.49%. The business had revenue of $12.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.76 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 4th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.63%.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, 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 owns 58,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,906,050. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 13,942 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $697,100.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 328,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,424,550. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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 value of $124,850.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 58,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,906,050. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 19,441 shares of company stock worth $972,080 over the last ninety days. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.