Retirement Systems of Alabama Reduces Holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Retirement Systems of Alabama trimmed its position in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 5.6% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,849,706 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 168,655 shares during the period. Cisco Systems accounts for approximately 0.7% of Retirement Systems of Alabama’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $175,855,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Navigoe LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. JDM Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Cisco Systems by 160.4% during the fourth quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 487 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

CSCO opened at $65.84 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $61.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $60.74. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.50 and a 12-month high of $66.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market cap of $260.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.87, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.88.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.04. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 26.48% and a net margin of 17.60%. The firm had revenue of $14.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.88 EPS. Cisco Systems’s revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is 66.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 9,643 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.50, for a total transaction of $612,330.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 181,186 shares in the company, valued at $11,505,311. This represents a 5.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 29,784 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.61, for a total value of $1,924,344.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 688,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,478,105.49. This trade represents a 4.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 72,931 shares of company stock valued at $4,671,930. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on CSCO shares. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen raised Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. New Street Research reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Cisco Systems from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $72.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.11.

Cisco Systems 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.