Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Sold by Scott & Selber Inc.

Scott & Selber Inc. cut its holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 68,661 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,053 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems comprises approximately 1.2% of Scott & Selber Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Scott & Selber Inc.’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $4,065,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Cisco Systems by 76.7% during 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 last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 3rd quarter worth $40,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the third quarter worth about $51,000. 73.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on CSCO shares. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $66.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.63.

Cisco Systems Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of CSCO stock opened at $63.48 on Tuesday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $44.50 and a twelve month high of $66.50. The company has a market capitalization of $252.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.72, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $61.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

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%. Research analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.58%. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is currently 71.62%.

Cisco Systems announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback 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 repurchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In related news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were 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 directly owns 736,120 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,413,489.20. The trade was a 4.16 % 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 the SEC website. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 586 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.69, for a total transaction of $34,392.34. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 50,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,979,515.23. This represents a 1.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 74,848 shares of company stock worth $4,767,206. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.