Vestcor Inc Sells 9,019 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. $CSCO

Vestcor Inc lessened its stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 2.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 399,745 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 9,019 shares during the period. Cisco Systems makes up approximately 0.8% of Vestcor Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $27,351,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 393,989,568 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $27,334,996,000 after acquiring an additional 5,039,714 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 0.6% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 194,695,250 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $13,507,956,000 after acquiring an additional 1,067,872 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Cisco Systems by 1.2% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 99,252,395 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $6,864,058,000 after purchasing an additional 1,157,704 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Cisco Systems in the second quarter worth about $3,816,825,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 48,531,251 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,367,098,000 after purchasing an additional 1,414,105 shares during the period. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cisco Systems Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $78.64 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $77.96 and a 200 day moving average of $74.19. The company has a market cap of $310.62 billion, a PE ratio of 27.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.87. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $52.11 and a 12-month high of $88.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The network equipment provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $15.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.11 billion. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 19.22% and a return on equity of 27.88%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd will be paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 2nd. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In related news, insider Jeetendra I. Patel sold 11,248 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.00, for a total transaction of $854,848.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 262,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,970,976. This trade represents a 4.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 19,545 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.00, for a total value of $1,485,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 671,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,003,220. The trade was a 2.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 75,677 shares of company stock valued at $5,811,211. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CSCO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Evercore upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Cisco Systems to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. CICC Research lifted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $84.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.55.

About Cisco Systems

Cisco Systems, Inc is a global technology company that designs, manufactures and sells networking hardware, software and telecommunications equipment. Its core business focuses on enabling enterprise and service-provider networks through products such as routers, switches, network security appliances and wireless systems. Over time Cisco has broadened its portfolio to emphasize software-defined networking, cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure and edge computing solutions that help organizations build and manage modern IT environments.

In addition to hardware, Cisco offers a growing range of software platforms and subscription services for network management, security, analytics and collaboration.