Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Sold by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Key Points

• Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. reduced its stake in Cisco Systems by 2.9%, owning about 78.2 million shares valued at nearly $4.82 billion, making Cisco its 20th largest holding.
• Analysts have given Cisco Systems a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $70.55, indicating positive outlook from multiple investment firms.
• Cisco recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.41 per share, reflecting a 2.3% yield and showcasing the company's ongoing commitment to returning capital to shareholders.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. cut its stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 2.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 78,182,843 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after selling 2,336,026 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems comprises about 0.9% of Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 1.97% of Cisco Systems worth $4,823,977,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CSCO. Navigoe LLC acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. JDM Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Cisco Systems by 160.4% during the 4th quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 487 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its position in Cisco Systems by 224.7% during the 1st quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 578 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In related news, EVP Oliver Tuszik sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.53, for a total value of $952,950.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 131,676 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,365,376.28. This represents a 10.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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 value 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. This represents a 3.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 97,335 shares of company stock worth $6,271,054. 0.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CSCO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen cut Cisco Systems from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $73.00 in a report on Monday, June 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $63.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, CICC Research initiated coverage on Cisco Systems in a report on Monday, July 14th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $78.00 price objective for the company. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $70.55.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

Shares of Cisco Systems stock traded up $1.89 on Friday, hitting $71.79. 31,389,613 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,692,797. The stock has a market capitalization of $284.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $67.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.04. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1-year low of $44.50 and a 1-year high of $72.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last issued its 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. The business had revenue of $14.15 billion for 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%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. As a group, sell-side 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 3rd. Cisco Systems's payout ratio is currently 66.94%.

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.