Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Sold by EP Wealth Advisors LLC

EP Wealth Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 8.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,230,444 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after selling 114,760 shares during the quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $72,842,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Colonial Trust Co SC lifted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 70,793 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $4,191,000 after purchasing an additional 4,528 shares in the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 76,865 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $4,550,000 after purchasing an additional 7,424 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Select Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,772,000. Crestline Management LP grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 5,466.7% during the fourth quarter. Crestline Management LP now owns 519,377 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $30,747,000 after buying an additional 510,047 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Cisco Systems by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 732,986 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $43,393,000 after acquiring an additional 3,556 shares in the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CSCO. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Cisco Systems from $72.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Cisco Systems from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Cisco Systems from $75.00 to $67.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, DZ Bank raised shares of Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $65.05.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 19,929 shares of Cisco Systems 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 335,605 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,616,318.05. The trade was a 5.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total transaction of $125,345.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 191,184 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,604,868.80. This represents a 1.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,547 shares of company stock worth $4,275,553 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

Shares of CSCO opened at $59.31 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market cap of $235.96 billion, a PE ratio of 25.90, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.89. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $44.50 and a twelve month high of $66.50. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $59.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.38.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. This is a boost from Cisco Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio is presently 71.62%.

Cisco Systems declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Cisco Systems 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.

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