Kelly Lawrence W & Associates Inc. CA Cuts Stock Holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Kelly Lawrence W & Associates Inc. CA decreased its stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 5.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 58,062 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 3,051 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems makes up 0.8% of Kelly Lawrence W & Associates Inc. CA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Kelly Lawrence W & Associates Inc. CA’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $3,437,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CSCO. Advisory Resource Group lifted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 97,718 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $5,201,000 after buying an additional 1,784 shares during the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at $798,000. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 4.5% in the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,188 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $542,000 after buying an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. Tudor Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,097,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 13.9% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 137,503 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $7,318,000 after purchasing an additional 16,749 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Melius upgraded Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.58.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In other news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.99, for a total transaction of $46,474.38. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 44,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,693,013.45. The trade was a 1.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total value of $125,345.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 191,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,604,868.80. This represents a 1.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 66,547 shares of company stock valued at $4,275,553. Insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $55.73 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.13. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a one year low of $44.50 and a one year high of $66.50. 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 has a market cap of $221.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.33, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.86.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 26.08% and a net margin of 16.96%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is 71.62%.

Cisco Systems announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the network equipment provider to repurchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Cisco Systems Company Profile

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.