Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Purchased by Mengis Capital Management Inc.

Mengis Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 5.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,305 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 314 shares during the period. Mengis Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $373,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CSCO. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Cisco Systems by 76.7% during the 4th 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. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $51,000. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cisco Systems Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ CSCO opened at $63.24 on Tuesday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12 month low of $44.50 and a 12 month high of $66.50. The company has a market cap of $251.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.62, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.42.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the network equipment provider to repurchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.59%. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.87%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kristina M. Johnson sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.87, for a total transaction of $449,025.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 65,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,946,331.05. The trade was a 10.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 4,881 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.73, for a total value of $291,542.13. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 51,931 shares in the company, valued at $3,101,838.63. The trade was a 8.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 79,729 shares of company stock valued at $5,058,748 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CSCO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup upped their target price on Cisco Systems from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America upped their target price on Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Cisco Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cisco Systems currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.53.

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.