Principal Securities Inc. Purchases New Shares in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 51,055 shares of the network equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,579,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CSCO. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 1,666.7% during the fourth quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 636 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the period. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 41.9% during the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 704 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the period. Finally, Bourgeon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 3,500.0% during the fourth quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 720 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company's stock.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

Shares of Cisco Systems stock traded up $0.27 during trading on Friday, hitting $48.06. 12,094,778 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,122,972. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $48.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $194.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $45.70 and a fifty-two week high of $58.19.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $12.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.71 billion. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 33.01% and a net margin of 23.49%. Cisco Systems's revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.76 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 4th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems's payout ratio is presently 48.63%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 3,002 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.01, for a total transaction of $150,130.02. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 191,559 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,579,865.59. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 13,942 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $697,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 328,491 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,424,550. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 3,002 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.01, for a total value of $150,130.02. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 191,559 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,579,865.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 19,441 shares of company stock worth $972,080. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CSCO. StockNews.com raised Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Cisco Systems in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $58.00 price objective on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. UBS Group raised their price target on Cisco Systems from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on Cisco Systems in a report on Friday, April 12th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $52.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $55.53.

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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