Hennessy Advisors Inc. Acquires 11,400 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 216,800 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 11,400 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $12,835,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CSCO. West Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 116.6% in the 3rd quarter. West Financial Advisors LLC now owns 574 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Cisco Systems by 76.7% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 222.4% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 661 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 456 shares during the period. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. 73.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 86,351 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.49, for a total value of $4,964,318.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 365,314 shares in the company, valued at $21,001,901.86. This trade represents a 19.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 3,042 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.19, for a total transaction of $180,055.98. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 207,798 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,299,563.62. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 353,522 shares of company stock worth $20,349,721. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

NASDAQ CSCO traded up $0.41 during trading on Friday, hitting $60.23. 23,800,968 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,184,370. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.50 and a 12-month high of $60.95. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.52. The company has a market capitalization of $239.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 0.84.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 13th. The network equipment provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $13.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.78 billion. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 17.73% and a return on equity of 25.70%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. Cisco Systems's revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 2.97 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on CSCO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Cisco Systems from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the company from $55.00 to $66.00 in a report on Monday, November 11th. Bank of America raised their target price on Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays boosted their price target on Cisco Systems from $49.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Cisco Systems from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Cisco Systems currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $61.50.

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.