Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Sold by Capital Wealth Planning LLC

Capital Wealth Planning LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 13.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,878 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 4,090 shares during the quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $1,591,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pflug Koory LLC raised its stake in Cisco Systems by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Pflug Koory LLC now owns 33,026 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,955,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the period. Fairhaven Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in 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 worth $449,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. Maple Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Cisco Systems by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Maple Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,984 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $709,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Cisco Systems by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Pathway Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,791 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $343,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. Finally, Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Cisco Systems by 1.7% in the 4th 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In related news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 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 value of $2,060,025.03. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kristina M. Johnson sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.87, for a total transaction of $449,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 65,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,946,331.05. This trade represents a 10.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 74,848 shares of company stock worth $4,767,206. 0.01% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Cisco Systems Stock Up 0.5 %

CSCO stock opened at $64.14 on Friday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12 month low of $44.50 and a 12 month high of $66.50. The firm has a market cap of $255.15 billion, a PE ratio of 28.01, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the network equipment provider to buy up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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 given a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.56%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is 71.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on CSCO. Melius Research upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.63.

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.