Boston Research & Management Inc. Sells 584 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Boston Research & Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 148,163 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 584 shares during the period. Cisco Systems comprises about 2.2% of Boston Research & Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Boston Research & Management Inc.’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $8,771,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CSCO. Norges Bank bought a new position in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth $3,297,905,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth about $560,722,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 327.5% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 6,819,000 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $362,907,000 after acquiring an additional 5,223,800 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 79.6% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 8,971,494 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $477,463,000 after acquiring an additional 3,975,028 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its position in Cisco Systems by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 193,489,477 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $10,297,506,000 after acquiring an additional 3,241,682 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.99, for a total transaction of $46,474.38. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 44,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,693,013.45. The trade was a 1.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $2,060,025.03. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 736,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,413,489.20. The trade was a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 66,547 shares of company stock valued at $4,275,553 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

NASDAQ CSCO opened at $60.86 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $62.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.60. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52 week low of $44.50 and a 52 week high of $66.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $242.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.58, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its quarterly 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 return on equity of 26.08% and a net margin of 16.96%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan 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 buy up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CSCO. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. DZ Bank upgraded Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.63.

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.