Benjamin Edwards Inc. Sells 4,157 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Key Points

• Benjamin Edwards Inc. has decreased its stake in Cisco Systems by 3.2%, selling 4,157 shares, leaving it with 126,744 shares valued at approximately $7.82 million.
• Institutional investors now own 73.33% of Cisco's stock, with notable increases in holdings from firms like Goldman Sachs Group and Vanguard Group.
• Cisco recently reported a quarterly dividend of $0.41 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 2.3% and a payout ratio of 66.94%.

Benjamin Edwards Inc. decreased its position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 3.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 126,744 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after selling 4,157 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.'s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $7,821,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC bought a new stake in Cisco Systems in the 1st quarter valued at $460,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 16.8% during the first quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 504,967 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $31,162,000 after buying an additional 72,504 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the first quarter worth approximately $699,000. Ardent Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the first quarter worth approximately $205,000. Finally, Founders Financial Alliance LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 16.0% during the first quarter. Founders Financial Alliance LLC now owns 27,415 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $1,692,000 after buying an additional 3,779 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 2,407 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.01, for a total transaction of $154,072.07. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 177,027 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,331,498.27. This trade represents a 1.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.07, for a total value of $48,821.34. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 36,937 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,366,553.59. This represents a 2.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 97,335 shares of company stock worth $6,271,054. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Cisco Systems Stock Up 1.0%

NASDAQ CSCO traded up $0.71 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $71.38. 21,677,845 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,299,121. The company's 50-day moving average is $67.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.11. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a one year low of $44.89 and a one year high of $72.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.95. The company has a market capitalization of $282.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 0.91.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.96 EPS 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CSCO. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $77.00 price target on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $63.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $65.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, New Street Research reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $70.55.

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.