Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Lowers Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lessened its position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 588,138 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 29,831 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems accounts for approximately 0.5% of Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $34,818,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pflug Koory LLC grew its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Pflug Koory LLC now owns 33,026 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,955,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Fairhaven Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Fairhaven Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,581 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $449,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Pathway Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,791 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC now owns 10,591 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $627,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 31,744 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,879,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Down 1.2 %

CSCO opened at $63.24 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.87. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $44.50 and a fifty-two week high of $66.50. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $60.75 and its 200 day moving average is $56.42. The stock has a market cap of $251.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.84.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 given a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.59%. 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. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.62%.

Cisco Systems declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Melius upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $66.00 to $73.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.53.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $2,060,025.03. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 736,120 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,413,489.20. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 4,881 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.73, for a total transaction of $291,542.13. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 51,931 shares in the company, valued at $3,101,838.63. The trade was a 8.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 79,729 shares of company stock worth $5,058,748. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.