Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Stake Boosted by Slagle Financial LLC

Slagle Financial LLC boosted its position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 16.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 59,484 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,495 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems makes up about 1.6% of Slagle Financial LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Slagle Financial LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $3,521,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CSCO. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth approximately $132,000. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the third quarter worth $798,000. HighVista Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,698,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 93,357 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $5,527,000 after purchasing an additional 10,813 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Cisco Systems by 76.4% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,947 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,003,000 after buying an additional 7,338 shares in the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

Shares of CSCO stock opened at $61.40 on Friday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $44.50 and a twelve month high of $66.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market cap of $244.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.81, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79. The business’s fifty day moving average is $62.10 and its 200 day moving average is $58.38.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.91 by ($0.14). Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 26.08% and a net margin of 16.96%. Research analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the network equipment provider to reacquire up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is 71.62%.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total transaction of $125,345.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 191,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,604,868.80. This represents a 1.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.99, for a total value of $46,474.38. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 44,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,693,013.45. This trade represents a 1.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 66,547 shares of company stock worth $4,275,553. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CSCO. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Rosenblatt Securities raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.63.

Cisco Systems Company 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.