First Command Advisory Services Inc. Reduces Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

First Command Advisory Services Inc. lessened its holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,452 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 467 shares during the quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $1,211,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CSCO. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 76.7% in the 4th quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 599 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the period. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the third quarter valued at about $40,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter valued at about $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Trading Down 0.3 %

CSCO opened at $64.08 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $61.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.61. 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 $254.93 billion, a PE ratio of 27.98, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.84. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a one year low of $44.50 and a one year high of $66.50.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program 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 programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. 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. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.62%.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 736,120 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,413,489.20. The trade was a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 11,808 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total transaction of $760,080.96. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 200,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,886,294.67. This trade represents a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 74,848 shares of company stock worth $4,767,206. Insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on CSCO shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com lowered Cisco Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Melius Research raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Cisco Systems currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.