Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Purchased by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 698.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 689,603 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 603,286 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $40,824,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CSCO. Pflug Koory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Pflug Koory LLC now owns 33,026 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $1,955,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc boosted 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 lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 167 shares during the period. BlackDiamond Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 168 shares during the period. Finally, Maple Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 1.4% during the fourth 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 period. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their target price on Cisco Systems from $80.00 to $63.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barclays restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, March 6th. UBS Group upped their target price on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $65.05.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CSCO traded down $0.49 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $61.29. The stock had a trading volume of 34,219,448 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,396,857. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company has a 50 day moving average of $58.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $59.54. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $44.50 and a twelve month high of $66.50. The firm has a market cap of $243.83 billion, a PE ratio of 26.76, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.89.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last released 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 net margin of 16.96% and a return on equity of 26.08%. Research analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.68%. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio is currently 71.62%.

Cisco Systems announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In other news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $2,060,025.03. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 736,120 shares of the company's stock, valued at $47,413,489.20. This represents a 4.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of the firm'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 directly owns 191,184 shares in the company, valued at $11,604,868.80. This trade represents a 1.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 66,547 shares of company stock valued at $4,275,553 in the last ninety days. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.