Empower Advisory Group LLC Has $3.24 Million Holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Empower Advisory Group LLC reduced its position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 9.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 54,647 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 5,544 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $3,235,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth about $49,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter worth about $56,000. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In related news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 3,042 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.19, for a total transaction of $180,055.98. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 207,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,299,563.62. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.69, for a total value of $34,392.34. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 50,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,979,515.23. This represents a 1.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 67,921 shares of company stock valued at $4,298,667. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BNP Paribas upgraded Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $72.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America upped their price target on Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Melius Research upgraded Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.53.

Cisco Systems Trading Down 0.4 %

Cisco Systems stock opened at $64.59 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $60.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market cap of $257.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.63 and a beta of 0.84. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12 month low of $44.50 and a 12 month high of $66.50.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by ($0.14). Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 25.70% and a net margin of 17.73%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 2.97 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the network equipment provider to repurchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This is a boost 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 2.54%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.67%.

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.