The winds are shifting around virtual server specialist VMware (NYSE:VMW) as some of its biggest stakeholders make trades. I think that what's happening here holds a serious investing lesson for us.
Intel's (NASDAQ:INTC) investment arm, Intel Capital, just disclosed that it has sold a million VMware shares: half to EMC (NYSE:EMC) and the rest to Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO). The sale is worth close to a $3.5 million profit, and the company plans to unload another 3.75 million shares on the open market in the near future.
That's nearly half of Intel's 9.5 million VMware shares shifting hands. Let that sink in for a moment.
Cisco seems to appreciate VMware more than Intel does right now. Maybe it's because the virtualization veteran also works closely with Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE:AMD), while Cisco appears much more invested in virtualization-friendly switching technology than rivals like Nortel or 3com.
It's not that Intel doesn't believe in virtual servers. Its server-class chips are loaded with features that play well with virtual machines from VMware, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), and others. But to sell several million shares at what I see as a massive mispricing of VMware's shares? I guess the chip chief believes it can come up with better uses for the cash. Meanwhile, Cisco is getting a heck of a deal at share prices below fair market value.
So you gotta ask yourself one question: Do you invest like Intel or like Cisco? You're choosing between risk-averse profit taking or opportunistic growth investing. Personally, I think the Intel-style investors are missing out.
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