Hedge Funds Turn A Little Bearish On Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO), But Remain Confident

Judging by the fact that Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) has witnessed falling interest from the smart money, it’s safe to say that there was a specific group of hedgies that slashed their positions entirely heading into Q4. At the top of the heap, Gordy Holterman and Derek Dunn’s Overland Advisors dropped the largest position of all the hedgies watched by Insider Monkey, totaling an estimated $41.2 million in stock. Matthew Knauer and Mina Faltas’ fund, Nokota Management, also sold off its stock, about $33 million worth. These bearish behaviors are interesting, as total hedge fund interest fell by 5 funds heading into Q4.

Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) but similarly valued. These stocks are PetroChina Company Limited (ADR) (NYSE:PTR), Reynolds American, Inc. (NYSE:RAI), Sanofi SA (ADR) (NYSE:SNY), and Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM). This group of stocks’ market valuations are closest to CSCO’s market valuation.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 28.75 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $1.55 billion. That figure was $4.24 billion in CSCO’s case. Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand PetroChina Company Limited (ADR) (NYSE:PTR) is the least popular one with only 10 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) is more popular among hedge funds. Considering that hedge funds are fond of this stock in relation to its market cap peers and have a lot of their capital held in it, it may be a good idea to analyze the stock in detail and potentially include it in your portfolio.