Vestcor Inc Sells 11,959 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Vestcor Inc cut its stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 416,771 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 11,959 shares during the period. Cisco Systems makes up 0.8% of Vestcor Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $24,673,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 76.7% in the 4th quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 599 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the third quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth $49,000. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cisco Systems Stock Down 0.3 %

CSCO opened at $60.46 on Thursday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $44.50 and a twelve month high of $66.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $61.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $57.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $240.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.40, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its quarterly earnings results 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to buyback $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the network equipment provider to reacquire up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is currently 71.62%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total value of $125,345.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 191,184 shares in the company, valued at $11,604,868.80. This represents a 1.07 % decrease in their position. 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 Cisco Systems 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 736,120 shares in the company, valued at $47,413,489.20. This trade represents a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,547 shares of company stock valued at $4,275,553 in the last quarter. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $72.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.63.

About Cisco Systems

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.