Empower Advisory Group LLC Reduces Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Empower Advisory Group LLC decreased its position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 9.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 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 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Truist Financial Corp lifted its stake in Cisco Systems by 20.8% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 2,458,278 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $145,530,000 after purchasing an additional 423,682 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in Cisco Systems by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,483,656 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $87,831,000 after acquiring an additional 12,177 shares during the period. Total Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Cisco Systems by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Total Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,268 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $371,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares during the period. New Jersey Better Educational Savings Trust bought a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at $218,000. Finally, Americana Partners LLC raised its holdings in Cisco Systems by 62.1% during the 4th quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 182,869 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $10,826,000 after acquiring an additional 70,024 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In related news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $2,060,025.03. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 736,120 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,413,489.20. This trade represents a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 586 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $2,979,515.23. This represents a 1.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 67,921 shares of company stock valued at $4,298,667 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of CSCO traded down $0.69 on Friday, hitting $63.98. 18,884,987 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,763,086. The company has a market capitalization of $254.53 billion, a PE ratio of 27.94, a P/E/G ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.87. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.01. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a one year low of $44.50 and a one year high of $66.50.

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

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

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.56%. This is an increase from Cisco Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CSCO. Rosenblatt Securities raised shares of Cisco Systems from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $66.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Melius raised shares of Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $66.00 to $73.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Cisco Systems presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $66.53.

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.