Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Sold by Transcend Capital Advisors LLC

Transcend Capital Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,126 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,288 shares during the quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $2,671,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 76.7% during 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 in the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $51,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $56,000. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cisco Systems Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Cisco Systems stock opened at $64.67 on Friday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1 year low of $44.50 and a 1 year high of $66.50. 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 company has a market capitalization of $257.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.24, a PEG ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s fifty day moving average is $60.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.01.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.91 by ($0.14). Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 26.08% and a net margin of 16.96%. Analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.87%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 4,881 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.73, for a total value of $291,542.13. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 51,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,101,838.63. The trade was a 8.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 3,042 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.19, for a total transaction of $180,055.98. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 207,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,299,563.62. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 67,921 shares of company stock valued at $4,298,667 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CSCO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Melius upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $73.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective 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. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $72.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Melius Research upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.