Key Financial Inc Lowers Stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Key Financial Inc reduced its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,761 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 517 shares during the period. Key Financial Inc’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $1,111,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Highline Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. 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. acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth $49,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 3rd quarter worth $51,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 3rd quarter worth $56,000. 73.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In other news, Director Kristina M. Johnson sold 7,500 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.87, for a total transaction of $449,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 65,915 shares in the company, valued at $3,946,331.05. The trade was a 10.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 586 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.69, for a total transaction of $34,392.34. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 50,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,979,515.23. The trade was a 1.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 37,239 shares of company stock worth $2,166,612 over the last ninety days. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Melius upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $57.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.53.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of CSCO opened at $64.87 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market cap of $258.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.84, a PEG ratio of 4.63 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a 50-day moving average of $60.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $55.64. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.50 and a 12-month high of $66.50.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced 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 return on equity of 25.70% and a net margin of 17.73%. As a group, research analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the network equipment provider to repurchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.53%. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is 68.67%.

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.