Alexander Randolph Advisory Inc. Takes Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Alexander Randolph Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 56,492 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,854,000. Cisco Systems makes up 2.6% of Alexander Randolph Advisory Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Wealthspire Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Cisco Systems by 48.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 71,385 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $3,838,000 after purchasing an additional 23,194 shares during the period. Roble Belko & Company Inc raised its holdings in Cisco Systems by 77.1% in the 4th quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 6,405 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $324,000 after purchasing an additional 2,788 shares during the period. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Cisco Systems by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 64,136 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $3,448,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth about $28,685,000. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its holdings in Cisco Systems by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 4,470,521 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $240,335,000 after purchasing an additional 49,700 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on CSCO shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Melius Research reissued a “hold” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Monday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Cisco Systems in a report on Monday, April 22nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $53.00 target price for the company. Citigroup began coverage on Cisco Systems in a report on Friday, April 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $52.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com cut Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.53.

Cisco Systems Trading Down 0.5 %

Cisco Systems stock traded down $0.24 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $47.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 14,658,910 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,851,638. The firm has a market capitalization of $193.79 billion, a PE ratio of 14.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.87. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1 year low of $45.56 and a 1 year high of $58.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $48.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.04.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $12.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.71 billion. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 33.01% and a net margin of 23.49%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.76 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 4th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.34%. 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 48.63%.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In other news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 2,497 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $124,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 58,121 shares in the company, valued at $2,906,050. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 328,491 shares in the company, valued at $16,424,550. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 2,497 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $124,850.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 58,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,906,050. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 19,441 shares of company stock worth $972,080 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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.