SFE Investment Counsel Has $2.67 Million Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

SFE Investment Counsel lifted its stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 52,935 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,590 shares during the quarter. SFE Investment Counsel’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $2,674,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Wealth Dimensions Group Ltd. lifted its position in Cisco Systems by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Dimensions Group Ltd. now owns 13,401 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $693,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC lifted its position in Cisco Systems by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 20,996 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,129,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Cassia Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Cisco Systems by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cassia Capital Partners LLC now owns 13,950 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $750,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC lifted its position in Cisco Systems by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 24,693 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,328,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sax Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Cisco Systems by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,686 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $306,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 2,497 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $124,850.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 58,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,906,050. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 13,942 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $697,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 328,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,424,550. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 2,497 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $124,850.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 58,121 shares in the company, valued at $2,906,050. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 19,441 shares of company stock valued at $972,080. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ CSCO traded up $0.33 on Thursday, hitting $48.12. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,778,682 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,415,963. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1-year low of $45.56 and a 1-year high of $58.19. The company’s 50-day moving average is $49.14 and its 200 day moving average is $50.31. The firm has a market cap of $194.85 billion, a PE ratio of 14.63, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.87.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.03. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 23.49% and a return on equity of 33.01%. The firm had revenue of $12.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.76 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 4th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on CSCO. Melius Research reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $58.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Friday, April 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $52.00 price objective on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.03.

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.