WNY Asset Management LLC Takes Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

WNY Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 3,401 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Navigoe LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. JDM Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 160.4% during the 4th quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 487 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. DZ Bank raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Wednesday. New Street Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Friday, May 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.00.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In related news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 9,643 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.50, for a total transaction of $612,330.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 181,186 shares in the company, valued at $11,505,311. This represents a 5.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jeetendra I. Patel sold 9,961 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.97, for a total transaction of $637,205.17. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 257,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,450,653.14. This represents a 3.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 22,431 shares of company stock valued at $1,421,356. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of Cisco Systems stock opened at $63.11 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $59.05 and a 200-day moving average of $59.96. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1-year low of $44.50 and a 1-year 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 company has a market cap of $249.92 billion, a PE ratio of 27.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.89.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.04. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 16.96% and a return on equity of 26.08%. The company had revenue of $14.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.94%.

Cisco Systems declared that its board has initiated a share buyback 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 often an indication 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.