Greystone Financial Group LLC Sells 15,977 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. $CSCO

Key Points

• Greystone Financial Group cut its stake in Cisco by 12.8% in Q4, selling 15,977 shares and leaving it with 109,181 shares valued at about $8.41 million per its SEC filing.
• Company insiders have been net sellers recently — including EVP Deborah Stahlkopf and Jeetendra Patel — with insiders selling a total of 46,431 shares (about $3.57 million) in the past 90 days.
• Cisco posted a Q beat with EPS $1.04 vs. $1.02 and revenue of $15.35 billion (up 9.7% YoY), raised its quarterly dividend to $0.42 per share, and carries a MarketBeat consensus of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $89.81.

Greystone Financial Group LLC decreased its position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 12.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 109,181 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after selling 15,977 shares during the quarter. Greystone Financial Group LLC's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $8,410,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Cisco Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Cisco Systems by 96.2% during the 3rd quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 408 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 115.7% during the third quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 468 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares during the period. Finally, Holos Integrated Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 7,981 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.50, for a total value of $634,489.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 187,097 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,874,211.50. This trade represents a 4.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jeetendra I. Patel sold 11,248 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.00, for a total transaction of $854,848.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 262,776 shares in the company, valued at $19,970,976. This represents a 4.10% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 46,431 shares of company stock valued at $3,574,820 in the last ninety days. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Cisco Systems Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of CSCO opened at $87.71 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.96. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.92. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52 week low of $53.83 and a 52 week high of $88.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $346.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.83.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The network equipment provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $15.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.11 billion. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 27.88% and a net margin of 19.22%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.94 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This is a boost from Cisco Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 2nd. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on CSCO shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Argus raised Cisco Systems to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Zacks Research downgraded Cisco Systems from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Citigroup upped their price target on Cisco Systems from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Evercore raised Cisco Systems from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Cisco Systems presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $89.81.

About Cisco Systems

Cisco Systems, Inc is a global technology company that designs, manufactures and sells networking hardware, software and telecommunications equipment. Its core business focuses on enabling enterprise and service-provider networks through products such as routers, switches, network security appliances and wireless systems. Over time Cisco has broadened its portfolio to emphasize software-defined networking, cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure and edge computing solutions that help organizations build and manage modern IT environments.

In addition to hardware, Cisco offers a growing range of software platforms and subscription services for network management, security, analytics and collaboration.

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