South Plains Financial Inc. Makes New Investment in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

South Plains Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 7,174 shares of the network equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $425,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Navigoe LLC bought a new position in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Campbell Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 76.7% in the 4th quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 599 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

Shares of Cisco Systems stock traded up $1.21 during trading on Friday, hitting $59.33. The stock had a trading volume of 18,752,989 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,268,301. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.79 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 $236.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.91, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.86. The business's 50-day moving average is $59.20 and its 200 day moving average is $59.34.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the network equipment provider to repurchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were given a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.76%. This is a boost from Cisco Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.62%.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $2,060,025.03. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 736,120 shares of the company's stock, valued at $47,413,489.20. The trade was a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total value of $125,345.50. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 66,547 shares of company stock valued at $4,275,553. Insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Cisco Systems from $75.00 to $67.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. DZ Bank upgraded Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. 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 MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $65.05.

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.