Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Bought by Ascent Group LLC

Ascent Group LLC increased its stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 16.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 54,077 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,464 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $3,201,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. WNY Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at $201,000. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at $98,000. Perennial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at $7,628,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 29.5% during the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 41,168 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $2,437,000 after buying an additional 9,380 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CSCO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley restated a "hold" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $72.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $68.00.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 1.0%

CSCO stock traded up $0.64 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $63.75. The company had a trading volume of 17,422,554 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,322,613. 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 $252.45 billion, a PE ratio of 27.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $59.09 and a 200 day moving average of $59.99. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12 month low of $44.50 and a 12 month high of $66.50.

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

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The business 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 is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.57%. Cisco Systems's payout ratio is 66.94%.

Cisco Systems declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the network equipment provider to reacquire up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total transaction of $125,345.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 191,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,604,868.80. This represents a 1.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jeetendra I. Patel sold 9,961 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.97, for a total transaction of $637,205.17. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 257,162 shares in the company, valued at $16,450,653.14. The trade was a 3.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 22,431 shares of company stock worth $1,421,356. 0.01% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.