Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) is Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC’s 9th Largest Position

Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 436,739 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 811 shares during the period. Cisco Systems makes up 1.9% of Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $25,852,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Campbell Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings 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 during the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Cisco Systems in the third quarter valued at $40,000. Institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ CSCO opened at $60.50 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.75. 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 $240.69 billion, a PE ratio of 26.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by ($0.14). Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 26.08% and a net margin of 16.96%. Equities analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the network equipment provider to reacquire up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management 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. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is currently 71.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 736,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,413,489.20. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 19,929 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $1,283,626.89. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 335,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,616,318.05. This trade represents a 5.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 66,547 shares of company stock valued at $4,275,553 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on CSCO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. 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. Melius Research raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Melius raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cisco Systems has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.63.

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.