Cetera Investment Advisers Grows Stock Holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Key Points

• Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in Cisco Systems, acquiring an additional 112,353 shares, raising its total holdings to 1,050,823 shares valued at approximately $64.8 million.
• Numerous institutional investors, including Avantax Advisory Services Inc. and Tempus Wealth Planning LLC, have also adjusted their positions, contributing to institutional investors' ownership of 73.33% of the company's stock.
• Research analysts have given Cisco a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a price target of approximately $70.35, following various rating upgrades and changes from firms like Wells Fargo and Deutsche Bank.

Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 12.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,050,823 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 112,353 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers' holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $64,846,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CSCO. Navigoe LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. JDM Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 160.4% in the fourth quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 487 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Fairway Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 224.7% during the first quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 578 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company's stock.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of CSCO traded up $0.23 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $68.19. 4,177,117 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,155,180. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.50 and a 52-week high of $69.78. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $62.56. The firm has a market cap of $270.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.82, a P/E/G ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.90.

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

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.41%. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 15,678 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.52, for a total transaction of $1,027,222.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 309,543 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,281,257.36. This represents a 4.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 9,643 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.50, for a total value of $612,330.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 181,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,505,311. This trade represents a 5.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 97,335 shares of company stock worth $6,271,054 over the last three months. 0.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on CSCO. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Cisco Systems from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $72.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $73.00 in a report on Monday, June 16th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. CICC Research started coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Monday, July 14th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $78.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. They issued a "peer perform" rating for the company. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $70.35.

Cisco Systems 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.