United Asset Strategies Inc. Boosts Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

United Asset Strategies Inc. grew its holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 6.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 40,364 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,341 shares during the period. United Asset Strategies Inc.’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $2,039,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wealth Dimensions Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Cisco Systems by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Dimensions Group Ltd. now owns 13,401 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $693,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services boosted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.3% during the third quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 14,831 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $797,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the period. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC boosted its stake in Cisco Systems by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 20,996 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,129,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the period. Cassia Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Cisco Systems by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Cassia Capital Partners LLC now owns 13,950 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $750,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Waddell & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 0.8% in the third quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 24,693 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,328,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

CSCO stock traded down $0.11 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $48.13. The stock had a trading volume of 4,173,497 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,507,418. The firm has a market capitalization of $194.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $50.37. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52 week low of $45.56 and a 52 week high of $58.19.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.03. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 23.49% and a return on equity of 33.01%. The business had revenue of $12.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.76 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 4th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.63%.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In other news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 3,002 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.01, for a total value of $150,130.02. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 191,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,579,865.59. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 3,002 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.01, for a total transaction of $150,130.02. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 191,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,579,865.59. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 13,942 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $697,100.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 328,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,424,550. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 19,441 shares of company stock worth $972,080 over the last 90 days. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CSCO. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Cisco Systems from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. StockNews.com cut Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Melius lowered Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Cisco Systems from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.03.

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.