Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Sold by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lowered its position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 80,518,869 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,201,386 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems comprises approximately 0.9% of Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 2.02% of Cisco Systems worth $4,766,717,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 76.7% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the third quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of CSCO opened at $63.48 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $252.54 billion, a PE ratio of 27.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.84. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a one year low of $44.50 and a one year 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $61.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.06.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its 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%. As a group, analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the network equipment provider to repurchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are 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 $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.58%. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cisco Systems news, Director Kristina M. Johnson sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.87, for a total value of $449,025.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 65,915 shares in the company, valued at $3,946,331.05. This trade represents a 10.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 3,042 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.19, for a total transaction of $180,055.98. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 207,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,299,563.62. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 74,848 shares of company stock worth $4,767,206 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CSCO. StockNews.com cut shares of Cisco Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. 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. Melius Research upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cisco Systems presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.63.

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.