Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. Acquires 8,879 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. $CSCO

Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 199,939 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,879 shares during the quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $15,401,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bare Financial Services Inc boosted its stake in Cisco Systems by 531.0% in the second quarter. Bare Financial Services Inc now owns 366 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Cisco Systems by 96.2% in the third quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 408 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Cisco Systems by 115.7% during the third quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 468 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on CSCO. Evercore upgraded Cisco Systems from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $80.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Argus upgraded Cisco Systems to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.55.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of Cisco Systems stock opened at $79.92 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $78.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $52.11 and a 12-month high of $88.18. The company has a market cap of $315.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.04, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.87.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The network equipment provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.02. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 19.22% and a return on equity of 27.88%. The company had revenue of $15.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.94 earnings per share. Cisco Systems’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 2nd. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is currently 57.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 551 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.54, for a total transaction of $42,724.54. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 27,957 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,167,785.78. This trade represents a 1.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 7,981 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.50, for a total value of $634,489.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 187,097 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,874,211.50. The trade was a 4.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 46,431 shares of company stock valued at $3,574,820 in the last ninety days. 0.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Cisco Systems

Cisco Systems, Inc is a global technology company that designs, manufactures and sells networking hardware, software and telecommunications equipment. Its core business focuses on enabling enterprise and service-provider networks through products such as routers, switches, network security appliances and wireless systems. Over time Cisco has broadened its portfolio to emphasize software-defined networking, cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure and edge computing solutions that help organizations build and manage modern IT environments.

In addition to hardware, Cisco offers a growing range of software platforms and subscription services for network management, security, analytics and collaboration.