Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Sold by Private Trust Co. NA

Private Trust Co. NA cut its stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 45,867 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,916 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $2,715,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc. grew its position in Cisco Systems by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc. now owns 132,716 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $7,857,000 after buying an additional 1,690 shares during the period. Argyle Capital Management LLC lifted 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 valued at $4,616,000 after acquiring an additional 791 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 32,287 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,911,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Bouchey Financial Group Ltd grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $394,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the period. Finally, Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in 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 valued at $3,655,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cisco Systems news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the firm’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. This trade represents a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kristina M. Johnson sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now owns 65,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,946,331.05. This represents a 10.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 74,848 shares of company stock worth $4,767,206 over the last ninety days. 0.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CSCO has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup upped their target price on Cisco Systems from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Seven investment 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.63.

Cisco Systems Stock Down 0.4 %

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

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share 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%. Analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given 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 a boost 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 71.62%.

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.