Assetmark Inc. Acquires 5,622 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Assetmark Inc. grew its position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 7.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 86,164 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,622 shares during the quarter. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $5,101,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of 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 raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $63.94 on Friday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52 week low of $44.50 and a 52 week high of $66.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company’s fifty day moving average is $61.63 and its 200-day moving average is $57.39. The company has a market capitalization of $254.37 billion, a PE ratio of 27.92, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 16.96% and a return on equity of 26.08%. Equities research analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the network equipment provider to repurchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.56%. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is currently 71.62%.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In other news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 3,042 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.19, for a total transaction of $180,055.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 207,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,299,563.62. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 11,808 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total value of $760,080.96. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 200,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,886,294.67. The trade was a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 67,348 shares of company stock valued at $4,318,181 over the last ninety days. 0.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CSCO shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.63.

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.