Intelligence Driven Advisers LLC Takes Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Intelligence Driven Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 4,169 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $247,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CSCO. Pflug Koory LLC lifted its stake in Cisco Systems by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Pflug Koory LLC now owns 33,026 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,955,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC now owns 10,591 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $627,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Cisco Systems by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 31,744 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,879,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Aviso Wealth Management lifted its stake in Cisco Systems by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Aviso Wealth Management now owns 7,615 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $405,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Waypoint Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Cisco Systems by 2.9% during the third quarter. Waypoint Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,497 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $346,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 0.2 %

CSCO opened at $62.53 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $44.50 and a twelve month high of $63.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $249.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.84, a P/E/G ratio of 4.63 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.36.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by ($0.14). Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 25.70% and a net margin of 17.73%. Analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to buyback $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the network equipment provider to buy up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.62%. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.67%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 86,351 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.49, for a total transaction of $4,964,318.99. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 365,314 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,001,901.86. This trade represents a 19.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 171,744 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.49, for a total value of $9,873,562.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 783,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,059,857.14. This represents a 17.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 353,522 shares of company stock worth $20,349,721. Insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Rosenblatt Securities raised Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $66.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $72.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cisco Systems currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $64.22.

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.