Minneapolis Portfolio Management Group LLC Buys 766 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Minneapolis Portfolio Management Group LLC increased its holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 0.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 578,898 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 766 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems makes up 4.5% of Minneapolis Portfolio Management Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Minneapolis Portfolio Management Group LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $34,271,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Campbell Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 76.7% in the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 599 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.99, for a total transaction of $46,474.38. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 44,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,693,013.45. This represents a 1.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total value of $125,345.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 191,184 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Insiders sold 66,547 shares of company stock worth $4,275,553 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CSCO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Cisco Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, March 6th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cisco Systems currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.63.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of CSCO stock opened at $60.30 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $239.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.50 and a 12-month high of $66.50. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.17.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by ($0.14). Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 26.08% and a net margin of 16.96%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the network equipment provider to reacquire up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.72%. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is 71.62%.

About Cisco Systems

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.