NorthRock Partners LLC Raises Stock Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

NorthRock Partners LLC lifted its stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 306.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 56,450 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 42,562 shares during the period. NorthRock Partners LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $3,342,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Navigoe LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Campbell Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on CSCO shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Cisco Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Cisco Systems from $73.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Rosenblatt Securities cut their target price on Cisco Systems from $80.00 to $63.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.05.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In other news, 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 191,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,604,868.80. This represents a 1.07% 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, 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 transaction of $1,283,626.89. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 335,605 shares in the company, valued at $21,616,318.05. The trade was a 5.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 66,547 shares of company stock valued at $4,275,553. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Up 0.2%

CSCO opened at $61.78 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $58.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.53. The company has a market capitalization of $245.78 billion, a PE ratio of 26.98, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.89. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1-year low of $44.50 and a 1-year high of $66.50. 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 (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 26.08% and a net margin of 16.96%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the network equipment provider to reacquire up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.