RFG Advisory LLC Increases Stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

RFG Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 124.0% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 86,011 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 47,606 shares during the quarter. RFG Advisory LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $5,308,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CSCO. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Navigoe LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. JDM Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 160.4% in the fourth quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 487 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

CSCO stock opened at $63.85 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $59.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $60.17. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.50 and a 12-month high of $66.50. The company has a market capitalization of $252.85 billion, a PE ratio of 27.88, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.57%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.94%.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. DZ Bank upgraded Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. New Street Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $63.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cisco Systems currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total value of $125,345.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 191,184 shares in the company, valued at $11,604,868.80. The trade was a 1.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 4,185 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.51, for a total transaction of $265,789.35. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,103 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,419,921.53. This represents a 9.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,616 shares of company stock worth $2,640,095 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

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.