World Equity Group Inc. Sells 766 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

World Equity Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,184 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 766 shares during the quarter. World Equity Group Inc.’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $840,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CSCO. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,931,461 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $3,402,432,000 after buying an additional 5,885,879 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in Cisco Systems by 327.5% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 5,231.5% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 4,935,107 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $262,646,000 after acquiring an additional 4,842,542 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 79.6% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 8,971,494 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $477,463,000 after purchasing an additional 3,975,028 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 193,489,477 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $10,297,506,000 after purchasing an additional 3,241,682 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 4,881 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.73, for a total value of $291,542.13. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 51,931 shares in the company, valued at $3,101,838.63. This trade represents a 8.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $2,060,025.03. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 736,120 shares in the company, valued at $47,413,489.20. The trade was a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 67,921 shares of company stock worth $4,298,667. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of Cisco Systems stock opened at $63.98 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $44.50 and a fifty-two week high of $66.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $254.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.94, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $60.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.22.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, equities analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the network equipment provider to reacquire up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.56%. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is 69.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CSCO shares. BNP Paribas raised Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $72.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Melius Research raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Cisco Systems from $57.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.53.

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.