Bell Bank Raises Holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Bell Bank grew its stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 10.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 202,500 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 18,993 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems accounts for approximately 0.9% of Bell Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Bell Bank’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $11,988,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CSCO. Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 76.7% during 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 in the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Cisco Systems in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Cisco Systems in the third quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $56,000. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $2,060,025.03. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 736,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,413,489.20. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 19,929 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $1,283,626.89. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 335,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,616,318.05. The trade was a 5.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 67,921 shares of company stock valued at $4,298,667. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on CSCO shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Cisco Systems from $57.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Citigroup raised their price target on Cisco Systems from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.53.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

CSCO opened at $63.98 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.15. The stock has a market cap of $254.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.94, a P/E/G ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.84. 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.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.91 by ($0.14). Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 26.08% and a net margin of 16.96%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders 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 2.56%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is 71.62%.

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.