Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Sold by Meritage Portfolio Management

Meritage Portfolio Management decreased its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 122,206 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,069 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $6,174,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CSCO. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its position in Cisco Systems by 25.0% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 18,750,237 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $947,262,000 after purchasing an additional 3,753,165 shares during the last quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter worth about $179,207,000. Capital Wealth Planning LLC increased its position in Cisco Systems by 7,074.3% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 3,271,642 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $175,883,000 after acquiring an additional 3,226,040 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Cisco Systems by 32.7% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 7,749,370 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $391,498,000 after buying an additional 1,909,597 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Cisco Systems by 3.8% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 50,549,422 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,717,537,000 after acquiring an additional 1,847,682 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Cisco Systems stock traded down $0.16 during trading on Friday, reaching $47.94. 7,148,817 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,257,328. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1 year low of $45.56 and a 1 year high of $58.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $48.95 and its 200 day moving average is $50.11. The firm has a market cap of $194.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.87.

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

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 4th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 3rd. 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. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.63%.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In related news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 3,002 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.01, for a total transaction of $150,130.02. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 191,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,579,865.59. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 3,002 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.01, for a total transaction of $150,130.02. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 191,559 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,579,865.59. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 13,942 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $697,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 328,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,424,550. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 19,441 shares of company stock valued at $972,080 in the last three months. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on CSCO shares. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $52.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America upgraded Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $55.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Melius downgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Melius Research reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Cisco Systems from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cisco Systems presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.53.

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.