United Capital Financial Advisors LLC Has $46.11 Million Stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

United Capital Financial Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 778,861 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 6,909 shares during the period. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $46,109,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CSCO. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Campbell Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

Shares of CSCO stock opened at $57.41 on Tuesday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.50 and a 12-month high of $66.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $61.19 and a 200-day moving average of $59.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $228.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (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, equities research analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the network equipment provider to repurchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. 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 is currently 71.62%.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In other news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 19,929 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $1,283,626.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 335,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,616,318.05. This trade represents a 5.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total transaction of $125,345.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 191,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,604,868.80. The trade was a 1.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 66,547 shares of company stock valued at $4,275,553. 0.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Melius Research upgraded Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.74.

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.