Optimum Investment Advisors Has $1.60 Million Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Optimum Investment Advisors cut its stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 26,950 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 600 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems comprises approximately 0.7% of Optimum Investment Advisors’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Optimum Investment Advisors’ holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $1,595,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Guardian Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at about $335,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at about $105,685,000. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 295,145 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $17,473,000 after buying an additional 5,420 shares in the last quarter. Umpqua Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 9,132 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $542,000 after acquiring an additional 645 shares during the period. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 94.0% during the 4th quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,017 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,067,000 after acquiring an additional 8,730 shares in the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cisco Systems Trading Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ CSCO opened at $60.30 on Friday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12 month low of $44.50 and a 12 month high of $66.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $239.89 billion, a PE ratio of 26.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $61.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.11.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, analysts expect 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 $0.41 dividend. 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 yield of 2.72%. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is presently 71.62%.

Cisco Systems declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the network equipment provider to reacquire up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on CSCO shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $66.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In other news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $2,060,025.03. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 736,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,413,489.20. The trade was a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 19,929 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $1,283,626.89. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 335,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,616,318.05. This represents a 5.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 66,547 shares of company stock valued at $4,275,553. 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.