Trust Investment Advisors Acquires 1,640 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Trust Investment Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 30,101 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,640 shares during the period. Cisco Systems makes up approximately 1.1% of Trust Investment Advisors’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Trust Investment Advisors’ holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $1,782,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CSCO. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth approximately $132,000. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the third quarter valued at approximately $798,000. HighVista Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Cisco Systems during the third quarter worth $1,698,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Cisco Systems by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 93,357 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,527,000 after buying an additional 10,813 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Cisco Systems by 76.4% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,947 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,003,000 after acquiring an additional 7,338 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of CSCO opened at $60.99 on Wednesday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.50 and a 52-week high of $66.50. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $62.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.34. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $242.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced 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 return on equity of 26.08% and a net margin of 16.96%. Research analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.62%.

Cisco Systems declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the network equipment provider to repurchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $66.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Melius Research raised Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $72.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total transaction of $125,345.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 191,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,604,868.80. This trade represents a 1.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.99, for a total transaction of $46,474.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 44,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,693,013.45. This trade represents a 1.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 66,547 shares of company stock worth $4,275,553. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

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.