Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Stake Reduced by Buckingham Capital Management Inc.

Buckingham Capital Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 9,957 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 379 shares during the period. Buckingham Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $589,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CSCO. Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 76.7% in the 4th quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 599 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the third quarter valued at $40,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at $49,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems in the 3rd quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter worth about $56,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Up 1.6 %

CSCO opened at $64.87 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $60.07 and a 200-day moving average of $55.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $258.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.84, a P/E/G ratio of 4.63 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1-year low of $44.50 and a 1-year 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 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.53%. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is currently 68.67%.

Cisco Systems declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the network equipment provider to reacquire up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on CSCO shares. Rosenblatt Securities raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $57.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com upgraded Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $72.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.53.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 3,042 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.19, for a total value of $180,055.98. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 207,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,299,563.62. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.69, for a total transaction of $34,392.34. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 50,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,979,515.23. The trade was a 1.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 37,239 shares of company stock valued at $2,166,612 in the last quarter. Corporate 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.