Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Acquired by Bell Bank

Bell Bank increased its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 10.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 202,500 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,993 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems accounts for about 0.9% of Bell Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Bell Bank’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $11,988,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CSCO. Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 76.7% in the fourth 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 stake in Cisco Systems in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the third quarter worth $51,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the third quarter valued at $56,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

Shares of CSCO opened at $63.98 on Friday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a one year low of $44.50 and a one year high of $66.50. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $60.65 and its 200-day moving average is $56.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $254.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.17 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

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

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.41 dividend. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.56%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is 71.62%.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In related news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.69, for a total transaction of $34,392.34. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 50,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,979,515.23. This trade represents a 1.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $2,060,025.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 736,120 shares in the company, valued at $47,413,489.20. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 67,921 shares of company stock valued at $4,298,667 over the last 90 days. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CSCO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BNP Paribas raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $72.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. DZ Bank raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup upped 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.53.

Cisco Systems 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.