Asset Planning Inc Takes Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 10,422 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $617,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 76.7% during the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 599 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Cisco Systems in the third quarter valued at about $40,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Cisco Systems in the third quarter valued at about $51,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Cisco Systems in the third quarter valued at about $56,000. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $63.84 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $59.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $254.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.40, a P/E/G ratio of 4.63 and a beta of 0.84. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.50 and a 12-month high of $66.50.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced 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 return on equity of 25.70% and a net margin of 17.73%. On average, analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to buyback $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the network equipment provider to reacquire up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business 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 is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.57%. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 3,042 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 207,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,299,563.62. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kristina M. Johnson sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.87, for a total value of $449,025.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 65,915 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,946,331.05. This trade represents a 10.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 37,239 shares of company stock valued at $2,166,612 over the last 90 days. 0.01% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CSCO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their price objective on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Cisco Systems from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.53.

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.