Nvest Financial LLC Reduces Stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Nvest Financial LLC cut its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 14.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,977 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 837 shares during the period. Nvest Financial LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $248,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 73,439,747 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $3,672,445,000 after buying an additional 6,345,954 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth $2,528,939,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 47,195,836 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $2,384,334,000 after purchasing an additional 3,314,330 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 24,941,271 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,260,033,000 after purchasing an additional 2,723,260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd grew its position in Cisco Systems by 47.1% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 18,922,422 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $955,961,000 after purchasing an additional 6,054,748 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

CSCO stock traded down $0.24 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $47.28. The stock had a trading volume of 19,792,607 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,727,699. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $47.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.77. The company has a market cap of $190.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.85. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.95 and a 52-week high of $58.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 15th. The network equipment provider reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.18. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 30.82% and a net margin of 21.88%. The company had revenue of $12.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.53 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. Cisco Systems’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 5th. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.87%.

Insider Activity

In other Cisco Systems news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 26,331 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.10, for a total transaction of $1,213,859.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 725,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,439,234.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Cisco Systems news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.42, for a total value of $34,610.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 51,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,352,210.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 26,331 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.10, for a total transaction of $1,213,859.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 725,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,439,234.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,106 shares of company stock valued at $1,908,923. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays upped their price target on Cisco Systems from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Friday, April 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $52.00 price target on the stock. BNP Paribas raised shares of Cisco Systems from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $50.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, May 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Cisco Systems in a report on Monday, April 22nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $53.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cisco Systems presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.47.

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.