Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Sold by Treasurer of the State of North Carolina

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina reduced its position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,108,786 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 8,610 shares during the period. Cisco Systems accounts for about 0.5% of Treasurer of the State of North Carolina’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $124,840,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Campbell Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Cisco Systems by 76.7% during the 4th quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 599 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 73.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total value of $125,345.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 191,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,604,868.80. The trade was a 1.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the company’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 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. This trade represents a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 66,547 shares of company stock worth $4,275,553 over the last quarter. 0.01% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CSCO has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. DZ Bank raised Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Cisco Systems from $72.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Cisco Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Seven research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.00.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

CSCO stock opened at $58.13 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $231.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.86. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.95. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.50 and a 52-week high of $66.50.

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

Cisco Systems announced that its board has authorized 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 purchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders 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 2.82%. 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 currently 71.62%.

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.