Hamel Associates Inc. Takes $237,000 Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Hamel Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 4,005 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $237,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its stake in Cisco Systems by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 256,099 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $15,161,000 after acquiring an additional 2,812 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Cisco Systems by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 201,389 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $11,922,000 after acquiring an additional 6,333 shares during the period. Maple Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Cisco Systems by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Maple Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,984 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $709,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. Sage Investment Counsel LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at about $355,000. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at about $24,148,000. 73.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Cisco Systems news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.69, for a total value of $34,392.34. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 50,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,979,515.23. This trade represents a 1.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 3,042 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.19, for a total value of $180,055.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 207,798 shares in the company, valued at $12,299,563.62. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 74,848 shares of company stock worth $4,767,206 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on CSCO. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Rosenblatt Securities raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $66.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $57.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cisco Systems presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.63.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 0.5 %

Cisco Systems stock opened at $64.14 on Friday. 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 $255.15 billion, a PE ratio of 28.01, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $61.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.79.

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 net margin of 16.96% and a return on equity of 26.08%. Analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the network equipment provider to repurchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.56%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.62%.

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.