Straight Path Wealth Management Makes New Investment in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Straight Path Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 5,598 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $331,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth about $132,000. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter worth about $798,000. HighVista Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,698,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Cisco Systems by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 93,357 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $5,527,000 after buying an additional 10,813 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at about $502,000. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $63.96 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $61.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.20. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.50 and a 12-month high of $66.50. The firm has a market cap of $254.45 billion, a PE ratio of 27.93, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

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

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.41 per share. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.56%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.62%.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CSCO shares. Melius Research raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. DZ Bank raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com cut shares of Cisco Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $72.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 3,042 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.19, for a total transaction of $180,055.98. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 207,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,299,563.62. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 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 transaction of $2,060,025.03. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 736,120 shares in the company, valued at $47,413,489.20. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 74,848 shares of company stock worth $4,767,206. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

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.