5,655 Shares in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Acquired by Guardian Partners Inc.

Guardian Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 5,655 shares of the network equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $335,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CSCO. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth $132,000. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter worth about $798,000. HighVista Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,698,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 93,357 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $5,527,000 after purchasing an additional 10,813 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 76.4% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,947 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $1,003,000 after purchasing an additional 7,338 shares during the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

Shares of Cisco Systems stock traded down $0.54 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $60.86. 24,930,941 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,487,819. The stock has a market capitalization of $242.12 billion, a PE ratio of 26.58, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a 50-day moving average of $62.11 and a 200 day moving average of $58.47. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $44.50 and a fifty-two week 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.

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Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.91 by ($0.14). Cisco Systems had a net margin of 16.96% and a return on equity of 26.08%. On average, analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

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 shares. This buyback authorization permits the network equipment provider to purchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This is a boost from Cisco Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio is currently 71.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 19,929 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $1,283,626.89. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 335,605 shares in the company, valued at $21,616,318.05. This represents a 5.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $2,060,025.03. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 736,120 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 quarter, insiders sold 66,547 shares of company stock worth $4,275,553. Insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CSCO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Melius Research upgraded Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target 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. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $66.63.

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.