Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Acquired by Ausdal Financial Partners Inc.

Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. increased its position in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 8.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 26,035 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,067 shares during the quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc.’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $1,541,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Avestar Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 19,984 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,064,000 after buying an additional 1,531 shares during the last quarter. Cadence Bank raised its stake in Cisco Systems by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 197,604 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $10,516,000 after acquiring an additional 828 shares in the last quarter. Insight Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Cisco Systems by 6.7% in the third quarter. Insight Wealth Partners LLC now owns 17,801 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $947,000 after acquiring an additional 1,118 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its stake in Cisco Systems by 108.7% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 3,582,670 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $190,670,000 after acquiring an additional 1,865,730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 28.9% during the third quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 91,172 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $4,852,000 after purchasing an additional 20,458 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In other news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 19,929 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $1,283,626.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 335,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,616,318.05. This represents a 5.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $2,060,025.03. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 736,120 shares in the company, valued at $47,413,489.20. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 66,547 shares of company stock worth $4,275,553. Insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $61.80 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a market capitalization of $245.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.99, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.50 and a 52-week high of $66.50. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $62.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.36.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to buyback $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the network equipment provider to buy up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a $0.41 dividend. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is presently 71.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CSCO has been the subject of several research reports. Rosenblatt Securities raised Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $66.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Seven 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems 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.