Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Position Raised by Arizona State Retirement System

Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 1.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,176,284 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 18,441 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems comprises 0.5% of Arizona State Retirement System's portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Arizona State Retirement System's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $72,588,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kathmere Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 10.4% during the first quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 52,924 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $3,266,000 after buying an additional 5,003 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 75,801 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $4,678,000 after buying an additional 1,554 shares during the last quarter. Independent Investors Inc. increased its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 50.4% during the first quarter. Independent Investors Inc. now owns 8,270 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $510,000 after purchasing an additional 2,770 shares in the last quarter. PYA Waltman Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. PYA Waltman Capital LLC now owns 19,174 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $1,183,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fulcrum Equity Management acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 1st quarter worth $319,000. Institutional investors own 73.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In related news, insider Jeetendra I. Patel sold 9,961 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider owned 257,162 shares in the company, valued at $16,450,653.14. The trade was a 3.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Oliver Tuszik sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.53, for a total transaction of $952,950.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 131,676 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,365,376.28. This trade represents a 10.23% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 97,335 shares of company stock valued at $6,271,054. 0.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Cisco Systems Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:CSCO traded down $0.64 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $67.18. 13,927,629 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,319,742. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.95. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $44.50 and a twelve month high of $69.78. The company has a market cap of $266.03 billion, a PE ratio of 27.42, a P/E/G ratio of 4.07 and a beta of 0.90. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $65.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.89.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $14.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.05 billion. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 26.48% and a net margin of 17.60%. The company's revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.44%. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. 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 target on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered Cisco Systems from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. They issued a "peer perform" rating for the company. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, New Street Research restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $69.95.

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.