Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. Increases Holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 61,745 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 430 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems comprises 1.2% of Shoker Investment Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $3,655,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CSCO. Fusion Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Fusion Capital LLC now owns 119,554 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $7,078,000 after purchasing an additional 3,746 shares in the last quarter. CORDA Investment Management LLC. lifted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 42.2% during the 4th quarter. CORDA Investment Management LLC. now owns 38,611 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $2,286,000 after buying an additional 11,451 shares during the last quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. now owns 181,902 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $10,769,000 after buying an additional 5,734 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 790,217 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $46,781,000 after buying an additional 35,006 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versor Investments LP acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth $314,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of CSCO stock opened at $63.81 on Friday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1-year low of $44.50 and a 1-year high of $66.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $61.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $253.85 billion, a PE ratio of 27.86, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.84.

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 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the network equipment provider to purchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors 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 paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.57%. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is 71.62%.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In related news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 736,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,413,489.20. The trade was a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kristina M. Johnson sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 74,848 shares of company stock valued at $4,767,206 in the last quarter. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on CSCO shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped 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. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Cisco Systems from $57.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Melius Research upgraded Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven equities 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.63.

About Cisco Systems

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.