Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 61,745 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 430 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems accounts for 1.2% of Shoker Investment Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $3,655,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Swedbank AB increased its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.6% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 9,029,594 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $480,555,000 after purchasing an additional 52,711 shares in the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 150.3% in the 3rd quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 19,872 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,058,000 after buying an additional 11,934 shares during the last quarter. Seaside Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $215,000. Oak Harvest Investment Services raised its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 3.3% during the third quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 125,345 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $6,671,000 after acquiring an additional 3,992 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 5.5% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 8,451 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $450,000 after acquiring an additional 442 shares in the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 586 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.69, for a total value of $34,392.34. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 50,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,979,515.23. This trade represents a 1.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kristina M. Johnson sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.87, for a total value of $449,025.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 65,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,946,331.05. This represents a 10.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 74,848 shares of company stock valued at $4,767,206 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $63.81 on Friday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52 week low of $44.50 and a 52 week high of $66.50. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $61.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $253.85 billion, a price-to-earnings 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.91 by ($0.14). Cisco Systems had a net margin of 16.96% and a return on equity of 26.08%. Research analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

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

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm 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 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.57%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is 71.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Cisco Systems from $57.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $72.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Cisco Systems from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Seven 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.