Callahan Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Callahan Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 14.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 65,500 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,126 shares during the period. Callahan Advisors LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $3,878,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Cisco Systems by 76.7% during the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 599 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems during the third quarter worth about $40,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems during the third quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems during the third quarter worth about $56,000. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In related news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 4,881 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.73, for a total value of $291,542.13. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 51,931 shares in the company, valued at $3,101,838.63. This trade represents a 8.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 21,230 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.07, for a total transaction of $1,211,596.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 213,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,203,506.38. This trade represents a 9.03 % 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 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of Cisco Systems stock opened at $64.87 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $258.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.84, a P/E/G ratio of 4.63 and a beta of 0.84. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $60.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.76. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52 week low of $44.50 and a 52 week high of $66.50.

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

Cisco Systems announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the network equipment provider to buy up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board 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. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.53%. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on CSCO shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Melius Research raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cisco Systems currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.53.

About Cisco Systems

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.