Rahlfs Capital LLC Takes Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Rahlfs Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,625 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $274,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in CSCO. Quarry LP raised its position in Cisco Systems by 92.3% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,271 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 610 shares in the last quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at $333,000. Taika Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $730,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 327.5% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 6,819,000 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $362,907,000 after acquiring an additional 5,223,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Weaver Consulting Group boosted its position in Cisco Systems by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Weaver Consulting Group now owns 9,841 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $524,000 after buying an additional 629 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 19,929 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $1,283,626.89. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 335,605 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,616,318.05. This trade represents a 5.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.99, for a total value of $46,474.38. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 44,155 shares in the company, valued at $2,693,013.45. This trade represents a 1.70 % decrease in their position. 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. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Down 4.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $54.54 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $216.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.82, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $61.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.81. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.50 and a 12-month high of $66.50.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 16.96% and a return on equity of 26.08%. On average, research analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

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

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is currently 71.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CSCO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. DZ Bank raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.63.

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.