Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Position Increased by Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Cisco Systems by 3.0% during the first quarter, now owning 304,041 shares valued at approximately $18.76 million.
• Several institutional investors have also raised their stakes in Cisco, including Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services, which increased its position by 28.9% in the first quarter.
• Cisco's quarterly earnings surpassed analyst estimates, reporting earnings per share of $0.96 and revenue of $14.15 billion, a 11.4% year-over-year increase.

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 3.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 304,041 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,896 shares during the period. Cisco Systems comprises about 1.3% of Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $18,762,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.7% during the first quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 892,064 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $55,049,000 after acquiring an additional 6,501 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 10.8% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,298 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $389,000 after acquiring an additional 612 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 28.9% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,037,909 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $249,180,000 after acquiring an additional 904,548 shares during the period. Investment Management Corp of Ontario increased its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 44.6% during the fourth quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 193,478 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $11,454,000 after acquiring an additional 59,680 shares during the period. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 2.6% during the first quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 111,510 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $6,882,000 after acquiring an additional 2,839 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In other news, EVP Oliver Tuszik sold 15,000 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.53, for a total value of $952,950.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 131,676 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,365,376.28. This trade represents a 10.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 9,643 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.50, for a total transaction of $612,330.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 181,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,505,311. This represents a 5.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 97,335 shares of company stock worth $6,271,054 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CSCO has been the subject of several research reports. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $63.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $72.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. KeyCorp initiated coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $77.00 price objective for the company. Finally, CICC Research initiated coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Monday, July 14th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $78.00 price objective for the company. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $70.35.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

NASDAQ CSCO opened at $68.29 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $270.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.90. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.50 and a 52-week high of $69.78.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $14.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.05 billion. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 17.60% and a return on equity of 26.48%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.40%. Cisco Systems's dividend 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.

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