Indie Asset Partners LLC Buys Shares of 3,606 Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Indie Asset Partners LLC bought a new stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 3,606 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CSCO. Pflug Koory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.5% during the 4th 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. Pathway Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 3.1% during the 4th 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. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Cisco Systems by 1.7% during 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 in the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Cisco Systems by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 31,744 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,879,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aviso Wealth Management increased its position in Cisco Systems by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Aviso Wealth Management now owns 7,615 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $405,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

CSCO opened at $63.98 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $60.65 and its 200-day moving average is $56.15. The stock has a market cap of $254.53 billion, a PE ratio of 27.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $44.50 and a twelve 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 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%. On average, analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.56%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is 71.62%.

Cisco Systems declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the network equipment provider to reacquire up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CSCO. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Melius Research raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. DZ Bank raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $57.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven research 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.53.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In related news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 19,929 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $1,283,626.89. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 335,605 shares in the company, valued at $21,616,318.05. This trade represents a 5.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 4,881 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.73, for a total transaction of $291,542.13. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 51,931 shares in the company, valued at $3,101,838.63. This represents a 8.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 67,921 shares of company stock worth $4,298,667 over the last quarter. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Cisco Systems 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.