Financial Avengers Inc. Decreases Holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Financial Avengers Inc. reduced its position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 19.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,426 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 575 shares during the period. Financial Avengers Inc.’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $144,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CSCO. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 30.4% during the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 68,904 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $4,079,000 after buying an additional 16,061 shares during the last quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Cisco Systems by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,367 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $732,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. Ames National Corp acquired a new position in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth about $865,000. PharVision Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at about $325,000. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CSCO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. DZ Bank raised Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on Cisco Systems from $63.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Cisco Systems from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $72.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cisco Systems has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.00.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ CSCO opened at $63.42 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1-year low of $44.50 and a 1-year high of $66.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $252.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.69, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.89. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $58.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.81.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $14.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.05 billion. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 16.96% and a return on equity of 26.08%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be paid a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.59%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.94%.

Cisco Systems announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the network equipment provider to buy up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In other news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 11,808 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total transaction of $760,080.96. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 200,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,886,294.67. The trade was a 5.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.99, for a total value of $46,474.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 44,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,693,013.45. This trade represents a 1.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 34,239 shares of company stock worth $2,181,437. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.