Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Sold by Harfst & Associates Inc.

Harfst & Associates Inc. cut its holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 35.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,291 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 3,951 shares during the period. Harfst & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $432,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Cisco Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Cisco Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at $51,000. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $64.08 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $61.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.61. The stock has a market cap of $254.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.98, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.84. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1-year low of $44.50 and a 1-year high of $66.50.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.41 dividend. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In other news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 586 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.69, for a total transaction of $34,392.34. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 50,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,979,515.23. This trade represents a 1.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 3,042 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.19, for a total transaction of $180,055.98. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 207,798 shares in the company, valued at $12,299,563.62. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 74,848 shares of company stock valued at $4,767,206 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on CSCO. Melius upgraded Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $73.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. DZ Bank upgraded Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.53.

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.