Ames National Corp Purchases New Stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Ames National Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 14,611 shares of the network equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $865,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CSCO. Pflug Koory LLC increased its position in Cisco Systems by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Pflug Koory LLC now owns 33,026 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $1,955,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the period. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc increased its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 2,070 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $123,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Fairhaven Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Fairhaven Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,581 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $449,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. BlackDiamond Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. BlackDiamond Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,656 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. Finally, Maple Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Cisco Systems by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Maple Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,984 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $709,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $63.42 on Wednesday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $58.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.87 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 $66.50. The firm has a market cap of $252.30 billion, a PE ratio of 27.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.89.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $14.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.05 billion. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 16.96% and a return on equity of 26.08%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.88 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio is currently 66.94%.

Cisco Systems announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback 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 repurchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CSCO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. StockNews.com raised Cisco Systems from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. BNP Paribas upgraded Cisco Systems from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $72.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $72.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $68.00.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In related news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 11,808 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total transaction of $760,080.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 200,191 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,886,294.67. This trade represents a 5.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total transaction of $125,345.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 191,184 shares in the company, valued at $11,604,868.80. This trade represents a 1.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 34,239 shares of company stock worth $2,181,437. 0.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.

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