Capital Investment Counsel Inc Cuts Holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Capital Investment Counsel Inc trimmed its position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 8.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 206,091 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 19,445 shares during the period. Cisco Systems makes up approximately 1.8% of Capital Investment Counsel Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Capital Investment Counsel Inc’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $12,201,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CSCO. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.6% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 9,029,594 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $480,555,000 after purchasing an additional 52,711 shares in the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 6.2% in the third quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 25,699 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,368,000 after purchasing an additional 1,505 shares in the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. raised its holdings in Cisco Systems by 3.4% during the third quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 9,695 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $516,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Cisco Systems during the third quarter worth about $387,000. Finally, Monte Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Cisco Systems by 9.2% during the third quarter. Monte Financial Group LLC now owns 115,135 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $6,127,000 after acquiring an additional 9,705 shares in the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Cisco Systems from $57.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America upped their target price on Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Citigroup upped their target price on Cisco Systems from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Melius upgraded Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $73.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $2,060,025.03. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 736,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,413,489.20. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 19,929 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $1,283,626.89. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 335,605 shares in the company, valued at $21,616,318.05. This represents a 5.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 67,921 shares of company stock valued at $4,298,667 over the last 90 days. 0.01% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

Cisco Systems stock opened at $64.67 on Friday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12 month low of $44.50 and a 12 month high of $66.50. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $60.55 and its 200-day moving average is $56.01. 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 company has a market capitalization of $257.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.24, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.84.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 EPS 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

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 2.54%. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.87%.

Cisco Systems announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the network equipment provider to reacquire up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.