Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC Has $720,000 Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,161 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 714 shares during the quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $720,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Cisco Systems by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC now owns 14,262 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $844,000 after buying an additional 511 shares in the last quarter. Crumly & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Crumly & Associates Inc. now owns 5,620 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $333,000 after acquiring an additional 419 shares during the period. PYA Waltman Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. PYA Waltman Capital LLC now owns 18,863 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,117,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Cisco Systems by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. now owns 32,450 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,921,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the period. Finally, Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Cisco Systems by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC now owns 25,891 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,533,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

CSCO stock opened at $63.98 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $254.53 billion, a PE ratio of 27.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $60.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.15. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $44.50 and a fifty-two week high of $66.50.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.91 by ($0.14). Cisco Systems had a net margin of 16.96% and a return on equity of 26.08%. Analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current 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 $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.56%. 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. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.62%.

Cisco Systems declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share 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 reacquire up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CSCO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Cisco Systems from $57.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. DZ Bank raised Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.53.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In related news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $2,060,025.03. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 736,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,413,489.20. The trade was a 4.16 % 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, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 4,881 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.73, for a total value of $291,542.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 51,931 shares in the company, valued at $3,101,838.63. The trade was a 8.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 67,921 shares of company stock worth $4,298,667 in the last quarter. 0.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.