Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP Sells 2,370 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP trimmed its position in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 10.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 20,281 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,370 shares during the period. Cisco Systems makes up approximately 1.3% of Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $1,025,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 41.9% in the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 704 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Cisco Systems by 3,500.0% in the 4th quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 720 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new position in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on CSCO shares. Bank of America raised Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Cisco Systems in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $58.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Cisco Systems from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Cisco Systems from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.53.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In related news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 13,942 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $697,100.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 328,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,424,550. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 13,942 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $697,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 328,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,424,550. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 3,002 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.01, for a total transaction of $150,130.02. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 191,559 shares in the company, valued at $9,579,865.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 19,441 shares of company stock valued at $972,080. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

Shares of CSCO traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $48.35. 14,813,125 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,419,535. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.37. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52 week low of $45.56 and a 52 week high of $58.19. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $49.01 and a 200-day moving average of $50.13. The stock has a market cap of $195.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.69, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.87.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.03. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 23.49% and a return on equity of 33.01%. The firm had revenue of $12.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.76 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 4th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.63%.

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.