Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO): 2 Important Indicators To Watch

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) has experienced a decrease in hedge fund interest lately.

To the average investor, there are many indicators shareholders can use to analyze publicly traded companies. Two of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best investment managers can outpace the broader indices by a very impressive margin (see just how much).

Just as key, positive insider trading sentiment is another way to break down the stock market universe. Just as you’d expect, there are many stimuli for a bullish insider to drop shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Various academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this strategy if investors know what to do (learn more here).

With these “truths” under our belt, we’re going to take a peek at the latest action surrounding Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO).

Hedge fund activity in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

At the end of the fourth quarter, a total of 58 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -12% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes considerably.

According to our comprehensive database, Donald Yacktman’s Yacktman Asset Management had the largest position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO), worth close to $1.0305 billion, accounting for 6.2% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is First Eagle Investment Management, managed by Jean-Marie Eveillard, which held a $906.8 million position; the fund has 3.2% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedge funds that are bullish include Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management, Kerr Neilson’s Platinum Asset Management and Sandy Nairn’s Edinburgh Partners.

Judging by the fact that Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) has experienced falling interest from hedge fund managers, we can see that there was a specific group of hedgies who sold off their positions entirely last quarter. It’s worth mentioning that Kenneth Mario Garschina’s Mason Capital Management dropped the largest position of the “upper crust” of funds we monitor, worth about $247.6 million in stock.. Robert Rodriguez and Steven Romick’s fund, First Pacific Advisors LLC, also sold off its stock, about $215.1 million worth. These transactions are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest was cut by 8 funds last quarter.

Insider trading activity in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Bullish insider trading is at its handiest when the company in question has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest six-month time frame, Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 10 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO). These stocks are Finisar Corporation (NASDAQ:FNSR), Riverbed Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:RVBD), Aruba Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARUN), Palo Alto Networks Inc (NYSE:PANW), and Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR). This group of stocks are the members of the networking & communication devices industry and their market caps are similar to CSCO’s market cap.