Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY Sells 15,782 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. $CSCO

Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY lowered its stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,234,292 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 15,782 shares during the period. Cisco Systems comprises about 2.9% of Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $95,077,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems during the third quarter worth $25,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 96.2% in the third quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 408 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 115.7% in the third quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 468 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares during the period. Finally, Holos Integrated Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CSCO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Erste Group Bank cut Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Cisco Systems from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. President Capital dropped their price objective on Cisco Systems from $90.00 to $88.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 24th. CICC Research boosted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $84.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.81.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 19,545 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.00, for a total value of $1,485,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 671,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,003,220. This trade represents a 2.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 7,981 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.50, for a total transaction of $634,489.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 187,097 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,874,211.50. The trade was a 4.09% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 46,431 shares of company stock valued at $3,574,820. Insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

CSCO opened at $86.25 on Monday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $53.83 and a twelve month high of $88.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $79.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $76.78. The company has a market cap of $340.68 billion, a PE ratio of 30.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.83.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The network equipment provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.02. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 27.88% and a net margin of 19.22%.The company had revenue of $15.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. Cisco Systems’s revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side 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 paid a $0.42 dividend. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 2nd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.95%.

Cisco Systems Company Profile

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.