ABLE Financial Group LLC Makes New Investment in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

ABLE Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,816 shares of the network equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $285,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CSCO. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 20.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 77,216,513 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $4,571,218,000 after acquiring an additional 13,285,052 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,297,905,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Cisco Systems by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 47,238,258 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $2,796,505,000 after purchasing an additional 4,832,813 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 36,471,275 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $2,159,099,000 after acquiring an additional 2,637,006 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 29,419,041 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $1,741,597,000 after acquiring an additional 681,555 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 9,643 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.50, for a total transaction of $612,330.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 181,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,505,311. This trade represents a 5.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.99, for a total value of $46,474.38. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 44,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,693,013.45. This trade represents a 1.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 22,431 shares of company stock worth $1,421,356. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

CSCO traded down $0.29 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $63.05. The company's stock had a trading volume of 13,981,411 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,297,072. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $60.04. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $249.68 billion, a PE ratio of 27.53, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.89. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $44.50 and a fifty-two week high of $66.50.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $14.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.05 billion. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 26.08% and a net margin of 16.96%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.88 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

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

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.60%. Cisco Systems's payout ratio is currently 66.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CSCO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Cisco Systems from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. New Street Research reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Friday, May 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, DZ Bank raised Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $68.00.

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.