Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) is Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s 4th Largest Position

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 51,531 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,145 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems accounts for approximately 1.0% of Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $3,051,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Campbell Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. 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 worth $35,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the period. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total value of $125,345.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 191,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,604,868.80. This represents a 1.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.99, for a total value of $46,474.38. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 44,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,693,013.45. The trade was a 1.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,547 shares of company stock valued at $4,275,553 over the last quarter. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on CSCO. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. StockNews.com lowered Cisco Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Rosenblatt Securities raised Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.63.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

CSCO opened at $60.86 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $62.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.47. The company has a market cap of $242.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.50 and a 52-week high of $66.50.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted its quarterly 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 return on equity of 26.08% and a net margin of 16.96%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the network equipment provider to repurchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.62%.

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.