Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC Cuts Stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 399,031 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after selling 9,665 shares during the period. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $23,623,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Advisory Resource Group increased its stake in Cisco Systems by 1.9% in the third quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 97,718 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $5,201,000 after acquiring an additional 1,784 shares during the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the third quarter valued at about $798,000. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,188 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $542,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the period. Tudor Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,097,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 137,503 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $7,318,000 after buying an additional 16,749 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.33% of the company's stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Cisco Systems stock traded up $0.39 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $57.73. The company had a trading volume of 19,282,870 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,253,071. The company's fifty day moving average is $59.40 and its 200-day moving average is $59.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.50 and a 12-month high of $66.50. The company has a market capitalization of $229.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.21, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.86.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last released 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 26.08% and a net margin of 16.96%. Equities research analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were given a $0.41 dividend. This is an increase from Cisco Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems's payout ratio is currently 71.62%.

Cisco Systems announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share 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 purchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CSCO shares. Barclays reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Melius Research raised shares of Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $75.00 to $67.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Rosenblatt Securities cut their target price on Cisco Systems from $80.00 to $63.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $65.05.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In related news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 19,929 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 335,605 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,616,318.05. This represents a 5.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 736,120 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $47,413,489.20. This trade represents a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 66,547 shares of company stock valued at $4,275,553. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.