Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC Trims Stock Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC cut its stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 34,921 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,442 shares during the period. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $2,067,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Campbell Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in 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. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cisco Systems Trading Down 0.5 %

Cisco Systems stock opened at $60.30 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $239.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.33, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $61.95 and its 200-day moving average is $58.17. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1 year low of $44.50 and a 1 year high of $66.50. 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 (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.72%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.62%.

Cisco Systems announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the network equipment provider to repurchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on CSCO. Citigroup reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Rosenblatt Securities raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of 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. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 19,929 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $1,283,626.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 335,605 shares in the company, valued at $21,616,318.05. This trade represents a 5.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 191,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,604,868.80. The trade was a 1.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 66,547 shares of company stock valued at $4,275,553. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

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.