Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Sold by FourThought Financial Partners LLC

FourThought Financial Partners LLC lowered its stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 176,939 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 392 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems comprises about 1.1% of FourThought Financial Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest position. FourThought Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $10,475,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CSCO. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Cisco Systems by 76.7% during 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. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Cisco Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter valued at $51,000. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 3,042 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.19, for a total transaction of $180,055.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 207,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,299,563.62. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $2,060,025.03. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 736,120 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,413,489.20. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 79,729 shares of company stock valued at $5,058,748. Insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on CSCO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock 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 Saturday. Citigroup boosted their price target on Cisco Systems from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Melius Research raised Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cisco Systems has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.53.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CSCO opened at $63.24 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.42. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a one year low of $44.50 and a one year high of $66.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $251.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.62, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.84.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock 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 often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.41 per share. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.59%. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is 69.87%.

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.