Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Sold by Buckingham Capital Management Inc.

Buckingham Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,957 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 379 shares during the quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $589,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CSCO. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased 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 valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems in the third quarter valued at $40,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at $49,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter worth $51,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at about $56,000. 73.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on CSCO. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Cisco Systems from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.53.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $64.87 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $258.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.84, a PEG ratio of 4.63 and a beta of 0.84. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a one year low of $44.50 and a one year high of $66.50. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.88.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.91 by ($0.14). Cisco Systems had a net margin of 17.73% and a return on equity of 25.70%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

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

Cisco Systems declared that its Board of Directors 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 purchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In related news, Director Kristina M. Johnson sold 7,500 shares of Cisco Systems 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 65,915 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,946,331.05. This trade represents a 10.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 21,230 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.07, for a total value of $1,211,596.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 213,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,203,506.38. This represents a 9.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 37,239 shares of company stock valued at $2,166,612. Insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Company 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.