C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors Cuts Stock Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors trimmed its position in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 10.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,813 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 569 shares during the period. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors’ holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $285,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 76.7% during the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 599 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the period. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the third quarter worth approximately $40,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth approximately $49,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the third quarter worth approximately $51,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the third quarter worth approximately $56,000. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cisco Systems Trading Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $64.67 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $60.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.01. The stock 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.87. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1 year low of $44.50 and a 1 year high of $66.50.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the network equipment provider to purchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.54%. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 69.87%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 trade represents a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 4,881 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.73, for a total value of $291,542.13. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 51,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,101,838.63. The trade was a 8.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 67,921 shares of company stock worth $4,298,667 over the last 90 days. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group upped their price target on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays upped their price target on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. BNP Paribas raised Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $72.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Cisco Systems from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.53.

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.