Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Trims Holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC trimmed its position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 232,022 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 7,136 shares during the period. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $11,722,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, VitalStone Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,000. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

CSCO traded up $0.14 on Thursday, hitting $49.91. The company had a trading volume of 18,137,448 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,930,795. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $49.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $50.93. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1-year low of $45.56 and a 1-year high of $58.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market cap of $202.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.87.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.03. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 33.01% and a net margin of 23.49%. The business had revenue of $12.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.76 earnings per share. Cisco Systems’s revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 3rd. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is 47.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Melius cut Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. UBS Group upped their price target on Cisco Systems from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. StockNews.com cut Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Barclays increased their target price on Cisco Systems from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on Cisco Systems from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.42.

Insider Activity

In other Cisco Systems news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 13,942 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $697,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 328,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,424,550. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 13,942 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $697,100.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 328,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,424,550. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 3,002 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.01, for a total value of $150,130.02. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 191,559 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,579,865.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 19,441 shares of company stock valued at $972,080 over the last 90 days. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.