Hartford Funds Management Co LLC Raises Holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Hartford Funds Management Co LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 14.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,210 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,706 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems makes up 0.1% of Hartford Funds Management Co LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $1,256,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $49,000. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In other news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the firm’s 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 in the company, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 value of $180,055.98. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 207,798 shares in the company, valued at $12,299,563.62. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 67,348 shares of company stock worth $4,318,181. 0.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $63.41 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $61.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.25. The stock has a market cap of $252.26 billion, a PE ratio of 27.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79. 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 one year low of $44.50 and a one year high of $66.50.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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, analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the network equipment provider to buy up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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 issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is 71.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CSCO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities raised Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Melius raised Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Cisco Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Seven equities research 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average 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.