Treasurer of the State of North Carolina Cuts Stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina reduced its position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,108,786 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 8,610 shares during the period. Cisco Systems accounts for approximately 0.5% of Treasurer of the State of North Carolina’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina owned approximately 0.05% of Cisco Systems worth $124,840,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Campbell Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Cisco Systems by 76.7% in the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 599 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Citigroup reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.00.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In related news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 11,808 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total transaction of $760,080.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 200,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,886,294.67. The trade was a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $2,060,025.03. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 736,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,413,489.20. The trade was a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 66,547 shares of company stock worth $4,275,553. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of Cisco Systems stock opened at $58.13 on Thursday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a one year low of $44.50 and a one year high of $66.50. The company has a market cap of $231.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.38, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.87. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $61.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.95.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is currently 71.62%.

Cisco Systems declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the network equipment provider to repurchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.