Intrepid Financial Planning Group LLC Acquires Shares of 3,435 Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Intrepid Financial Planning Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 3,435 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pollock Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at about $205,000. one8zero8 LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth about $1,898,000. Choate Investment Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Choate Investment Advisors now owns 123,590 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $7,317,000 after buying an additional 5,901 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 2,777,851 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $164,449,000 after buying an additional 124,988 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 77,462 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $4,586,000 after buying an additional 4,684 shares in the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cisco Systems Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of Cisco Systems stock opened at $60.50 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.87. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.50 and a 52-week high of $66.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $240.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.42, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $61.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $57.75.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.91 by ($0.14). Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 26.08% and a net margin of 16.96%. Equities research analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a $0.41 dividend. 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 yield of 2.71%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.62%.

Cisco Systems declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the network equipment provider to reacquire up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CSCO shares. Melius raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $73.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Melius Research raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 19,929 shares of the firm’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 owns 335,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,616,318.05. This trade represents a 5.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the firm’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 $2,060,025.03. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 736,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,413,489.20. The trade was a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,547 shares of company stock valued at $4,275,553 over the last quarter. 0.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.