Carnegie Investment Counsel Buys 20,050 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Carnegie Investment Counsel boosted its stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 8.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 257,313 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 20,050 shares during the period. Carnegie Investment Counsel's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $15,233,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 222.4% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 661 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 456 shares during the period. West Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Cisco Systems by 116.6% in the third quarter. West Financial Advisors LLC now owns 574 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares during the period. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 76.7% during the 4th quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 599 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $51,000. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ:CSCO traded up $0.41 on Friday, reaching $60.23. 23,800,968 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,142,955. The firm has a market capitalization of $239.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 0.84. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1-year low of $44.50 and a 1-year high of $60.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company's 50 day moving average is $58.87 and its 200-day moving average is $53.43.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 13th. The network equipment provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $13.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.78 billion. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 17.73% and a return on equity of 25.70%. Cisco Systems's quarterly revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.66%. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio is currently 68.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CSCO shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on Cisco Systems from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Bank of America upped their price target on Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $61.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In related news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 58,188 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.49, for a total value of $3,345,228.12. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 219,100 shares in the company, valued at $12,596,059. This trade represents a 20.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 86,351 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.49, for a total transaction of $4,964,318.99. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 365,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,001,901.86. The trade was a 19.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 353,522 shares of company stock valued at $20,349,721. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.