Zhang Financial LLC Grows Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Zhang Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 8.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 30,245 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,327 shares during the period. Zhang Financial LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $1,528,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC now owns 10,589 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $535,000 after purchasing an additional 471 shares during the last quarter. Davidson Trust Co. grew its stake in Cisco Systems by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Davidson Trust Co. now owns 13,624 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $688,000 after acquiring an additional 1,035 shares in the last quarter. Financial Symmetry Inc bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $403,000. HTLF Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,855,000. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Cisco Systems by 35.0% in the fourth quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 38,809 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,961,000 after purchasing an additional 10,069 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America raised Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $55.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Monday. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $58.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $52.00 price target for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.03.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In related news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 13,942 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $697,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 328,491 shares in the company, valued at $16,424,550. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 13,942 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $697,100.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 328,491 shares in the company, valued at $16,424,550. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 2,497 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $124,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 58,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,906,050. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 19,441 shares of company stock valued at $972,080. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of Cisco Systems stock traded up $0.17 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $48.28. The company had a trading volume of 8,709,755 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,346,197. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $50.29. The stock has a market cap of $195.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.65, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.87. 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 12-month low of $45.56 and a 12-month high of $58.19.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.03. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 33.01% and a net margin of 23.49%. The company had revenue of $12.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.76 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 3rd. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.31%. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is currently 48.63%.

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.