Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Sold by Houlihan Financial Resource Group Ltd.

Houlihan Financial Resource Group Ltd. lowered its position in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,742 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 180 shares during the period. Houlihan Financial Resource Group Ltd.’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $281,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $16,798,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 51.7% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 18,664 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $993,000 after buying an additional 6,357 shares in the last quarter. Cahill Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems in the third quarter valued at $243,000. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Cisco Systems by 19.9% during the 3rd quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC now owns 19,939 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,061,000 after acquiring an additional 3,309 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Hawaii grew its holdings in Cisco Systems by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Hawaii now owns 41,133 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $2,189,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of CSCO stock opened at $60.97 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.25. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $242.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.50 and a 12-month high of $66.50.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems announced that its board has initiated a share 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 buy up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business 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 $0.41 dividend. This is a positive change 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 2.69%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.62%.

Insider Activity

In other Cisco Systems news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.99, for a total value of $46,474.38. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 44,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,693,013.45. This represents a 1.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 736,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,413,489.20. This trade represents a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,547 shares of company stock worth $4,275,553 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 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, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.63.

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.