VSM Wealth Advisory LLC Invests $76,000 in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 1,279 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $76,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at $560,722,000. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 10.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,931,461 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $3,402,432,000 after acquiring an additional 5,885,879 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its position in Cisco Systems by 327.5% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 6,819,000 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $362,907,000 after purchasing an additional 5,223,800 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in Cisco Systems by 79.6% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 8,971,494 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $477,463,000 after acquiring an additional 3,975,028 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 193,489,477 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $10,297,506,000 after purchasing an additional 3,241,682 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of CSCO stock opened at $61.12 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $61.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $243.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.69, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12 month low of $44.50 and a 12 month high of $66.50.

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

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

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business 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 $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is 71.62%.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $2,060,025.03. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 736,120 shares in the company, valued at $47,413,489.20. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total value of $125,345.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 191,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,604,868.80. The trade was a 1.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,547 shares of company stock valued at $4,275,553 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on CSCO shares. BNP Paribas raised Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $72.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Melius upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.63.

Cisco Systems Company 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.