Argent Trust Co Buys 4,456 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Argent Trust Co grew its stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 256,284 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,456 shares during the period. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $15,172,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of CSCO. Financial Avengers Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 76.9% during the third quarter. Financial Avengers Inc. now owns 3,001 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $160,000 after buying an additional 1,305 shares during the last quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Cisco Systems by 35.7% in the third quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 53,774 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $2,862,000 after buying an additional 14,135 shares in the last quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Cisco Systems by 6.6% in the third quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 12,930 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $688,000 after purchasing an additional 798 shares during the period. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 24.7% during the third quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC now owns 104,481 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,560,000 after buying an additional 20,679 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Resource Group raised its position in Cisco Systems by 1.9% in the third quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 97,718 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $5,201,000 after acquiring an additional 1,784 shares during the period. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cisco Systems Stock Down 1.1 %

CSCO traded down $0.66 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $57.47. 1,236,298 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,956,946. The company has a market cap of $228.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $61.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.95. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a one year low of $44.50 and a one year high of $66.50.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by ($0.14). Cisco Systems had a net margin of 16.96% and a return on equity of 26.08%. As a group, analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.85%. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is currently 71.62%.

Cisco Systems declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the network equipment provider to purchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CSCO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $72.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $2,060,025.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 736,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,413,489.20. This trade represents a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total transaction of $125,345.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 191,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,604,868.80. The trade was a 1.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 66,547 shares of company stock valued at $4,275,553. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

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.