Souders Financial Advisors Purchases 455 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Souders Financial Advisors raised its position in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,053 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 455 shares during the quarter. Souders Financial Advisors’ holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $418,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 76.7% during the 4th quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 599 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $49,000. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ CSCO opened at $63.96 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $61.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $57.20. The company has a market cap of $254.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.93, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $44.50 and a fifty-two week high of $66.50.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.91 by ($0.14). Cisco Systems had a net margin of 16.96% and a return on equity of 26.08%. Sell-side analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is 71.62%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on CSCO shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Melius Research raised Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays boosted their price target on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In related news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 586 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.69, for a total transaction of $34,392.34. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 50,767 shares in the company, valued at $2,979,515.23. This represents a 1.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $2,060,025.03. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 736,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,413,489.20. This trade represents a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 74,848 shares of company stock valued at $4,767,206 in the last quarter. 0.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.