Fiduciary Group LLC Increases Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Fiduciary Group LLC increased its stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 10.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 73,359 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,943 shares during the quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $3,706,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Intellectus Partners LLC grew its stake in Cisco Systems by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 36,590 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,849,000 after acquiring an additional 549 shares during the last quarter. Paradigm Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Paradigm Financial Partners LLC now owns 42,004 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $2,122,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 14,320 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $723,000 after purchasing an additional 895 shares during the last quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth about $2,900,000. Finally, Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth about $1,430,000. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

CSCO stock traded down $0.24 during trading on Friday, hitting $47.86. 14,658,910 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,851,638. 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 52 week low of $45.56 and a 52 week high of $58.19. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $48.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $193.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.87.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $12.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.71 billion. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 23.49% and a return on equity of 33.01%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 4th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.34%. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 13,942 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $697,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 328,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,424,550. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 13,942 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $697,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 328,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,424,550. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 3,002 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.01, for a total transaction of $150,130.02. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 191,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,579,865.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 19,441 shares of company stock valued at $972,080 over the last 90 days. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CSCO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $60.00 in a report on Monday, April 15th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Monday, April 22nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $53.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $58.00 price objective on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.53.

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.