Kanawha Capital Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Kanawha Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 307,391 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 443 shares during the period. Cisco Systems makes up 1.4% of Kanawha Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Kanawha Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $18,198,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 76.7% during the 4th quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 599 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter valued at $51,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter valued at $56,000. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ CSCO opened at $63.84 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $59.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.36. The company has a market cap of $254.26 billion, a PE ratio of 27.40, a P/E/G ratio of 4.63 and a beta of 0.84. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.50 and a 52-week high of $66.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.88.

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

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.57%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is 68.67%.

Cisco Systems declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the network equipment provider to purchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CSCO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.53.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In related news, Director Kristina M. Johnson sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.87, for a total transaction of $449,025.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 65,915 shares in the company, valued at $3,946,331.05. This represents a 10.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 4,881 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.73, for a total transaction of $291,542.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 51,931 shares in the company, valued at $3,101,838.63. The trade was a 8.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 37,239 shares of company stock worth $2,166,612 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Company Profile

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.