SRS Capital Advisors Inc. Buys 2,250 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 21.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,727 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,250 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $753,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bailard Inc. raised its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 133,238 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $7,888,000 after acquiring an additional 6,450 shares in the last quarter. IFG Advisors LLC grew its stake in Cisco Systems by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. IFG Advisors LLC now owns 8,003 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $474,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the period. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in Cisco Systems by 27.0% in the fourth quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC now owns 7,178 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $425,000 after purchasing an additional 1,527 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Cisco Systems by 30.9% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 44,321 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,623,000 after buying an additional 10,461 shares during the period. Finally, Hickory Point Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at $784,000. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

CSCO opened at $64.14 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $61.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.95. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.50 and a 52-week high of $66.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $255.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.01, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 16.96% and a return on equity of 26.08%. As a group, analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

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

Cisco Systems announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the network equipment provider to reacquire up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CSCO. Melius upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. DZ Bank raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Melius Research upgraded Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.63.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In related news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 19,929 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $1,283,626.89. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 335,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,616,318.05. This trade represents a 5.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $2,060,025.03. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 736,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,413,489.20. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 74,848 shares of company stock worth $4,767,206. 0.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.