Merit Financial Group LLC Acquires 37,813 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 28.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 172,578 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 37,813 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $10,650,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CSCO. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,297,905,000. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 20.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 77,216,513 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $4,571,218,000 after acquiring an additional 13,285,052 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $560,722,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new position in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth about $413,491,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 7,096.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,718,402 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $414,593,000 after purchasing an additional 6,625,045 shares in the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CSCO traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $64.39. 14,767,043 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,172,983. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.50 and a 12-month high of $66.50. The company has a market cap of $254.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.12, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.88. The business's fifty day moving average price is $59.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $60.20.

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

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be paid a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.55%. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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 repurchase $15.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the network equipment provider to repurchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on CSCO. Morgan Stanley restated a "hold" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Citigroup increased their target price on Cisco Systems from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. New Street Research reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on Cisco Systems from $63.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $68.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 9,643 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 181,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,505,311. This represents a 5.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total transaction of $125,345.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 191,184 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,604,868.80. This represents a 1.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,616 shares of company stock valued at $2,640,095 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.

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.