Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 150,169 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 3,665 shares during the quarter. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $8,890,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Howard Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Cisco Systems by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 131,063 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $7,759,000 after purchasing an additional 9,307 shares during the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC grew its stake in Cisco Systems by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 62,842 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,720,000 after purchasing an additional 1,057 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at about $112,000. TCW Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 55,787 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,303,000 after buying an additional 616 shares during the period. Finally, FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CSCO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. BNP Paribas raised Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $72.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Melius raised Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $73.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.53.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 3,042 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.19, for a total value of $180,055.98. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 207,798 shares in the company, valued at $12,299,563.62. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 19,929 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 value of $1,283,626.89. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 335,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 sold 67,921 shares of company stock worth $4,298,667 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

Shares of Cisco Systems stock opened at $63.98 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.22. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12 month low of $44.50 and a 12 month high of $66.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $254.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.94, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.84. 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 announced its 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%. As a group, analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.56%. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.87%.

Cisco Systems declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the network equipment provider to repurchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.