Forte Capital LLC ADV Reduces Stock Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Forte Capital LLC ADV reduced its holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 65,199 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,329 shares during the period. Forte Capital LLC ADV’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $3,860,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 9,029,594 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $480,555,000 after acquiring an additional 52,711 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 25,699 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,368,000 after acquiring an additional 1,505 shares during the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 9,695 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $516,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 3rd quarter worth about $387,000. Finally, Monte Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Monte Financial Group LLC now owns 115,135 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $6,127,000 after acquiring an additional 9,705 shares during the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cisco Systems Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of Cisco Systems stock opened at $64.67 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $60.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.50 and a 52-week high of $66.50. The company has a market cap of $257.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.24, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.84.

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%. On average, 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 approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the network equipment provider to purchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is currently 69.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cisco Systems news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 19,929 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 335,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,616,318.05. The trade was a 5.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, 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 transaction of $2,060,025.03. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 736,120 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,413,489.20. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 67,921 shares of company stock valued at $4,298,667. Insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CSCO has been the subject of several analyst reports. 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. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective 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. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Cisco Systems has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.53.

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.