Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Sold by Altrius Capital Management Inc

Altrius Capital Management Inc lessened its stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 94,828 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,777 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems accounts for about 1.5% of Altrius Capital Management Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Altrius Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $5,614,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc. raised its stake in Cisco Systems by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc. now owns 132,716 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $7,857,000 after buying an additional 1,690 shares in the last quarter. Argyle Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Argyle Capital Management LLC now owns 77,974 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $4,616,000 after purchasing an additional 791 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 32,287 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,911,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Bouchey Financial Group Ltd raised its holdings in Cisco Systems by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Bouchey Financial Group Ltd now owns 6,660 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $394,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 61,745 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $3,655,000 after buying an additional 430 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $63.81 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $61.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.66. The company has a market cap of $253.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.86, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.84. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.50 and a 52-week high of $66.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted 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 26.08% and a net margin of 16.96%. On average, analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.57%. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is presently 71.62%.

Cisco Systems declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the network equipment provider to purchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CSCO. Barclays raised their target price on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Melius Research upgraded Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group upped their price target on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Cisco Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 22nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cisco Systems presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In other news, Director Kristina M. Johnson sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.87, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 10.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $2,060,025.03. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 736,120 shares in the company, valued at $47,413,489.20. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 74,848 shares of company stock worth $4,767,206 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

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.