Sunpointe LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Sunpointe LLC lifted its position in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 66.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,076 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,614 shares during the period. Sunpointe LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $537,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of CSCO. Highline Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 260 shares during the period. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth $49,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Cisco Systems in the third quarter valued at $51,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter valued at $56,000. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $64.84 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $258.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.31, a PEG ratio of 4.55 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $60.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.95. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52 week low of $44.50 and a 52 week high of $66.50.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its 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 net margin of 16.96% and a return on equity of 26.08%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.53%. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.87%.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays upped their target price on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup raised their target price on Cisco Systems from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Melius Research raised Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 3,042 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.19, for a total value of $180,055.98. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 586 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.69, for a total value of $34,392.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 50,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,979,515.23. This represents a 1.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 67,921 shares of company stock valued at $4,298,667. 0.01% of the stock is owned by 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.