IFG Advisors LLC Acquires 275 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

IFG Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,003 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the period. IFG Advisors LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $474,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 27.0% during the fourth quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC now owns 7,178 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $425,000 after acquiring an additional 1,527 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Cisco Systems by 30.9% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 44,321 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $2,623,000 after buying an additional 10,461 shares in the last quarter. Hickory Point Bank & Trust bought a new position in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth about $784,000. PCG Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth about $756,000. Finally, Sharkey Howes & Javer bought a new position in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth about $217,000. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on CSCO shares. Melius Research raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. DZ Bank raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 11,808 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total transaction of $760,080.96. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 200,191 shares in the company, valued at $12,886,294.67. This trade represents a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 736,120 shares in the company, valued at $47,413,489.20. The trade was a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 74,848 shares of company stock worth $4,767,206. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of CSCO stock opened at $64.14 on Friday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.50 and a 12-month high of $66.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $61.23 and its 200 day moving average is $56.87. 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.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued 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 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.56%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.62%.

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

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.