Center for Financial Planning Inc. Sells 199 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Center for Financial Planning Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,277 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 199 shares during the quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc.’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $668,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Cisco Systems by 76.7% in the fourth 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 purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems in the third quarter worth $40,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth $49,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems in the third quarter worth $51,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems in the third quarter worth $56,000. 73.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on CSCO. Melius Research raised Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Melius raised Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup lifted their price target on Cisco Systems from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kristina M. Johnson sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.87, for a total value of $449,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 65,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,946,331.05. The trade was a 10.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 21,230 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.07, for a total value of $1,211,596.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 213,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,203,506.38. This trade represents a 9.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 37,239 shares of company stock valued at $2,166,612 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of CSCO stock opened at $64.87 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $59.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.42. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.50 and a 12-month high of $66.50. The firm has a market cap of $258.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.63 and a beta of 0.84.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 25.70% and a net margin of 17.73%. Equities analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.53%. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is 68.67%.

Cisco Systems declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the network equipment provider to repurchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.