Silver Oak Advisory Group Inc. Makes New $204,000 Investment in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Silver Oak Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 3,452 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.6% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 9,029,594 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $480,555,000 after acquiring an additional 52,711 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 11.2% during the third quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 13,279 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $707,000 after acquiring an additional 1,341 shares during the period. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 21.7% during the third quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 16,235 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $864,000 after acquiring an additional 2,894 shares during the period. Tyler Stone Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 88.8% in the third quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 5,435 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 2,556 shares during the period. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems in the third quarter worth about $216,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In related news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 19,929 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $1,283,626.89. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 335,605 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,616,318.05. This represents a 5.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 3,042 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.19, for a total value of $180,055.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 207,798 shares in the company, valued at $12,299,563.62. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 67,348 shares of company stock valued at $4,318,181 over the last three months. 0.01% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on CSCO. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday. DZ Bank raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Seven equities research 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 has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.63.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

NASDAQ CSCO opened at $62.06 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $61.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.53. 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 company has a market cap of $246.89 billion, a PE ratio of 27.10, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1 year low of $44.50 and a 1 year high of $66.50.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the network equipment provider to buy up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.64%. 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 is 71.62%.

Cisco Systems 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.