Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Acquired by Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC

Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC boosted its holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 23.6% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 8,191 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,563 shares during the period. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $505,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC raised its position in Cisco Systems by 20.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 77,216,513 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $4,571,218,000 after buying an additional 13,285,052 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth $3,297,905,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Cisco Systems by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 47,238,258 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $2,796,505,000 after buying an additional 4,832,813 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Cisco Systems by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 36,471,275 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $2,159,099,000 after buying an additional 2,637,006 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Cisco Systems by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 29,419,041 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,741,597,000 after buying an additional 681,555 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on CSCO. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of 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 upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $72.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Cisco Systems currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.00.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In related news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 29,784 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.61, for a total transaction of $1,924,344.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 688,409 shares in the company, valued at $44,478,105.49. This trade represents a 4.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.99, for a total value of $46,474.38. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 44,155 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Insiders sold a total of 71,400 shares of company stock worth $4,564,439 in the last 90 days. 0.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Cisco Systems Trading Down 0.2%

Cisco Systems stock opened at $65.90 on Tuesday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a one year low of $44.50 and a one year high of $66.50. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $59.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $60.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $260.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.78, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.88.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $14.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.05 billion. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 16.96% and a return on equity of 26.08%. Cisco Systems’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.49%. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is 66.94%.

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

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.