Argent Trust Co Has $15.17 Million Stock Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Argent Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 256,284 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,456 shares during the period. Argent Trust Co's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $15,172,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,297,905,000. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 77,216,513 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $4,571,218,000 after purchasing an additional 13,285,052 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at $560,722,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in Cisco Systems by 50.3% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 6,627,956 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $392,375,000 after purchasing an additional 2,219,311 shares during the period. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. boosted its stake in Cisco Systems by 520.4% during the fourth quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 2,608,715 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $149,141,000 after buying an additional 2,188,252 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.33% of the company's stock.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 0.1 %

CSCO traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $57.40. 6,564,060 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,062,891. The stock has a market capitalization of $228.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.07, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.86. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a one year low of $44.50 and a one year high of $66.50. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $61.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.87.

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Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 26.08% and a net margin of 16.96%. As a group, analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. 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 (DPR) is presently 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 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the network equipment provider to purchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Melius raised Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $73.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $66.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.99, for a total transaction of $46,474.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 44,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,693,013.45. This represents a 1.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 19,929 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $1,283,626.89. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 335,605 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,616,318.05. This trade represents a 5.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 66,547 shares of company stock valued at $4,275,553. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.

Cisco Systems Profile

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.