Kovack Advisors Inc. Has $1.46 Million Stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Kovack Advisors Inc. grew its position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 18.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,665 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,918 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $1,460,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised 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 buying an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $51,000. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cisco Systems Trading Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $64.08 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $61.00 and its 200-day moving average is $56.61. 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 52 week low of $44.50 and a 52 week high of $66.50. The firm has a market cap of $254.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.98, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.84.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. Equities analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback 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 reacquire up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management 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. Investors 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 2.56%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is presently 71.62%.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 3,042 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.19, for a total transaction of $180,055.98. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 207,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,299,563.62. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 736,120 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,413,489.20. The trade was a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 74,848 shares of company stock worth $4,767,206 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on CSCO. 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 research report on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $57.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Melius Research raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cisco Systems has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.