Howe & Rusling Inc. Has $1.04 Million Holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Howe & Rusling Inc. lifted its position in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 9.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,547 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,486 shares during the quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc.’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $1,039,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at $560,722,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in Cisco Systems by 327.5% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 6,819,000 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $362,907,000 after acquiring an additional 5,223,800 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake 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 valued at $477,463,000 after purchasing an additional 3,975,028 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Cisco Systems by 1.7% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 108.7% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 3,582,670 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $190,670,000 after purchasing an additional 1,865,730 shares during the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of CSCO stock opened at $61.80 on Thursday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1 year low of $44.50 and a 1 year high of $66.50. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $62.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.36. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $245.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.99, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted its 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 16.96% and a return on equity of 26.08%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to buyback $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the network equipment provider to reacquire up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.65%. 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 71.62%.

Insider Activity

In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were 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 $11,604,868.80. The trade was a 1.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.99, for a total transaction of $46,474.38. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 44,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,693,013.45. This trade represents a 1.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,547 shares of company stock worth $4,275,553 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CSCO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Melius raised 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 research report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $72.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Seven 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.