3,609 Shares in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Bought by Meridian Wealth Partners LLC

Meridian Wealth Partners LLC purchased 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 firm purchased 3,609 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth $132,000. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems in the third quarter worth $798,000. HighVista Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems in the third quarter worth $1,698,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Cisco Systems by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 93,357 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $5,527,000 after acquiring an additional 10,813 shares during the period. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in Cisco Systems in the third quarter worth $502,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In other news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the company’s 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 directly owns 736,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,413,489.20. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.99, for a total value of $46,474.38. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 44,155 shares in the company, valued at $2,693,013.45. The trade was a 1.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,547 shares of company stock valued at $4,275,553 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CSCO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. DZ Bank upgraded Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.63.

Cisco Systems Stock Down 0.5 %

CSCO stock opened at $60.30 on Friday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $44.50 and a twelve month high of $66.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market cap of $239.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.33, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $61.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.11.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

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

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.72%. This is a boost 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%.

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.