Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Sold by Fiduciary Group LLC

Fiduciary Group LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 75,724 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,333 shares during the period. Fiduciary Group LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $4,483,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Campbell Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 76.7% during the 4th quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 599 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter worth $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CSCO has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group raised their target price on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $66.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com cut Cisco Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Melius raised Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $73.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.63.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of CSCO opened at $61.12 on Thursday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1 year low of $44.50 and a 1 year high of $66.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.97. The stock has a market cap of $243.15 billion, a PE ratio of 26.69, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (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 predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.68%. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is 71.62%.

Cisco Systems declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the network equipment provider to repurchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 19,929 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $1,283,626.89. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 335,605 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,616,318.05. This represents a 5.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total transaction of $125,345.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 191,184 shares in the company, valued at $11,604,868.80. The trade was a 1.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 66,547 shares of company stock worth $4,275,553. 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.