Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Boosts Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 8.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 54,461 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 4,384 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $3,310,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Navigoe LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. JDM Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 160.4% in the 4th quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 487 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Campbell Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. 73.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jeetendra I. Patel sold 9,961 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.97, for a total transaction of $637,205.17. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 257,162 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,450,653.14. The trade was a 3.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 9,643 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.50, for a total transaction of $612,330.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 181,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,505,311. This trade represents a 5.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 97,335 shares of company stock valued at $6,271,054. Insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

CSCO opened at $69.38 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $274.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $62.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.19. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.50 and a 52-week high of $69.78.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.04. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 17.60% and a return on equity of 26.48%. The business had revenue of $14.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. Cisco Systems's revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.36%. Cisco Systems's payout ratio is presently 66.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on CSCO shares. Barclays reiterated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $77.00 price objective for the company. New Street Research reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Cisco Systems from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $69.53.

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.

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