Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Position Boosted by IFP Advisors Inc

IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 63.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 108,671 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 42,248 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $6,433,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Cisco Systems in the third quarter worth about $40,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Cisco Systems in the third quarter worth about $51,000. Institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cisco Systems news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 4,881 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.73, for a total value of $291,542.13. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 51,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,101,838.63. The trade was a 8.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of Cisco Systems 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 736,120 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,413,489.20. This trade represents a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 67,921 shares of company stock worth $4,298,667. 0.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

NASDAQ CSCO opened at $63.98 on Monday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12 month low of $44.50 and a 12 month high of $66.50. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $254.53 billion, a PE ratio of 27.94, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.30.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted 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 net margin of 16.96% and a return on equity of 26.08%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.56%. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is 69.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on CSCO shares. DZ Bank raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. 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 report on Tuesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price 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. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $57.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, 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 note on Thursday, February 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.53.

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.