Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Lowers Stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. cut its position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 3.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,256,751 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 121,328 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned about 0.08% of Cisco Systems worth $154,728,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of CSCO. Mcintyre Freedman & Flynn Investment Advisers Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Mcintyre Freedman & Flynn Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 59,756 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,019,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. Baker Boyer National Bank grew its position in Cisco Systems by 2.6% in the first quarter. Baker Boyer National Bank now owns 8,237 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $411,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the period. Holland Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in Cisco Systems by 5.3% during the first quarter. Holland Advisory Services Inc. now owns 4,231 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $211,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. WealthPLAN Partners LLC raised its position in Cisco Systems by 3.0% in the first quarter. WealthPLAN Partners LLC now owns 7,385 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $369,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the period. Finally, Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 17.6% in the 1st quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,454 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.42, for a total transaction of $34,610.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 51,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,352,210.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 8,270 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.33, for a total value of $416,229.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 135,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,821,929.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.42, for a total transaction of $34,610.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 51,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,352,210.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 71,944 shares of company stock valued at $3,566,120 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ CSCO opened at $48.70 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $196.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.40, a PEG ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.83. The business’s 50 day moving average is $47.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.93. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.50 and a 12-month high of $56.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.02. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 27.83% and a net margin of 19.18%. The company had revenue of $13.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.01 earnings per share. Cisco Systems’s revenue was down 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 2.9 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 2nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.29%. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is currently 53.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CSCO shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. BNP Paribas upgraded Cisco Systems from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $50.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Cisco Systems to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $50.00 to $49.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $46.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, August 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.89.

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.