Wharton Business Group LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Wharton Business Group LLC lowered its stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 140,084 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 435 shares during the quarter. Wharton Business Group LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $8,293,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CSCO. IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 63.6% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 108,671 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $6,433,000 after buying an additional 42,248 shares in the last quarter. Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV boosted its position in Cisco Systems by 35.3% during the fourth quarter. Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV now owns 3,084 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $183,000 after acquiring an additional 805 shares during the last quarter. Mainstay Capital Management LLC ADV grew its stake in Cisco Systems by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Mainstay Capital Management LLC ADV now owns 38,737 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $2,293,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the period. Cape ANN Savings Bank acquired a new position in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at $208,000. Finally, Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at $206,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $2,060,025.03. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 736,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,413,489.20. This trade represents a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 19,929 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $1,283,626.89. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 335,605 shares in the company, valued at $21,616,318.05. The trade was a 5.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 67,921 shares of company stock worth $4,298,667. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Cisco Systems Stock Down 1.1 %

NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $63.98 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.30. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a one year low of $44.50 and a one year high of $66.50. The company has a market capitalization of $254.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.56%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is 69.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CSCO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $72.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.53.

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.