Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Sold by Ellis Investment Partners LLC

Ellis Investment Partners LLC reduced its stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,275 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 245 shares during the quarter. Ellis Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $431,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pflug Koory LLC increased its stake in Cisco Systems by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Pflug Koory LLC now owns 33,026 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,955,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Cisco Systems by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC now owns 10,591 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $627,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Cisco Systems by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 31,744 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,879,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Aviso Wealth Management raised its stake in Cisco Systems by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Aviso Wealth Management now owns 7,615 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $405,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Waypoint Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Cisco Systems by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Waypoint Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,497 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $346,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $64.87 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $60.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.59. The stock has a market cap of $258.36 billion, a PE ratio of 27.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.63 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.88. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a one year low of $44.50 and a one year high of $66.50.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced 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 17.73% and a return on equity of 25.70%. On average, analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.53%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.62%.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In related news, Director Kristina M. Johnson sold 7,500 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.87, for a total value of $449,025.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 65,915 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,946,331.05. This trade represents a 10.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 21,230 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.07, for a total value of $1,211,596.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 213,834 shares in the company, valued at $12,203,506.38. The trade was a 9.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 37,239 shares of company stock worth $2,166,612 over the last quarter. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on CSCO. Rosenblatt Securities raised Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Cisco Systems from $57.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com raised Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.53.

Cisco Systems 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.