3,686 Shares in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Purchased by New Jersey Better Educational Savings Trust

New Jersey Better Educational Savings Trust purchased a new position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 3,686 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $218,000. Cisco Systems comprises approximately 0.4% of New Jersey Better Educational Savings Trust’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Cisco Systems by 76.7% in the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 599 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Cisco Systems in the third quarter valued at about $40,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Cisco Systems in the third quarter valued at about $51,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Cisco Systems in the third quarter valued at about $56,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CSCO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Citigroup upped their target price on Cisco Systems from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities raised Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $66.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday. Bank of America upped their target price on Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Cisco Systems presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.53.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 586 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.69, for a total transaction of $34,392.34. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 50,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,979,515.23. This represents a 1.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 3,042 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, 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 sold 37,239 shares of company stock worth $2,166,612. Insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

CSCO opened at $64.87 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $258.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.63 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1-year low of $44.50 and a 1-year high of $66.50. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $60.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.59.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is 71.62%.

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

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.