Pathway Financial Advisers LLC Sells 4,842,534 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lessened its holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 98.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 92,573 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 4,842,534 shares during the period. Cisco Systems accounts for approximately 1.8% of Pathway Financial Advisers LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $5,480,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Avestar Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 22,256 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,318,000 after acquiring an additional 2,272 shares during the last quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 19.5% in the 4th quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 3,994 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $236,000 after purchasing an additional 651 shares during the period. TFC Financial Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 42.8% in the 4th quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 4,676 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $277,000 after purchasing an additional 1,402 shares during the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 17.8% during the fourth quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 11,417 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $676,000 after buying an additional 1,722 shares during the period. Finally, Hidden Cove Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth $1,085,000. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In related news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 171,744 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.49, for a total transaction of $9,873,562.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 783,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,059,857.14. This trade represents a 17.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 21,230 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.07, for a total transaction of $1,211,596.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 213,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,203,506.38. The trade was a 9.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 353,522 shares of company stock worth $20,349,721 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $62.53 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $249.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.84, a PEG ratio of 4.63 and a beta of 0.84. The business’s 50 day moving average is $59.89 and its 200 day moving average is $55.36. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.50 and a 12-month high of $63.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by ($0.14). Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 25.70% and a net margin of 17.73%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the network equipment provider to buy up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on CSCO. Melius Research raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group upped their target price on Cisco Systems from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $66.00 in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $64.22.

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.