Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Sold by C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors

C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors trimmed its holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 10.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,813 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 569 shares during the period. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors’ holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $285,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Cisco Systems Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CSCO opened at $64.67 on Friday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $44.50 and a twelve month high of $66.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a market capitalization of $257.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.84. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.01.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 16.96% and a return on equity of 26.08%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the network equipment provider to buy up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is 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 yield of 2.54%. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is currently 69.87%.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In related 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 transaction of $2,060,025.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 736,120 shares in the company, valued at $47,413,489.20. The trade was a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 4,881 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.73, for a total value of $291,542.13. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 51,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,101,838.63. This represents a 8.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 67,921 shares of company stock worth $4,298,667 in the last 90 days. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $66.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. DZ Bank upgraded Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average 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.