Freestone Capital Holdings LLC Purchases 1,293 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Freestone Capital Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 118,572 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,293 shares during the quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $7,020,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 76.7% during the fourth 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. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In related news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 11,808 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total transaction of $760,080.96. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 200,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,886,294.67. This trade represents a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 736,120 shares in the company, valued at $47,413,489.20. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 74,848 shares of company stock valued at $4,767,206 in the last three months. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on CSCO shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. BNP Paribas raised 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. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Melius upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $57.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.63.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $63.96 on Thursday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.50 and a 52-week high of $66.50. The company has a market cap of $254.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.93, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $61.47 and its 200-day moving average is $57.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the network equipment provider to buy up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.56%. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.62%.

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.