Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Sold by Independence Bank of Kentucky

Independence Bank of Kentucky decreased its position in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 36.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,146 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after selling 8,775 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $935,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth about $3,297,905,000. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 77,216,513 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $4,571,218,000 after buying an additional 13,285,052 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $560,722,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $413,491,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 7,096.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,718,402 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $414,593,000 after buying an additional 6,625,045 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company's stock.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

Shares of CSCO stock traded up $1.44 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $66.06. 20,913,335 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,153,531. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $59.61 and a 200 day moving average of $60.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.50 and a 52-week high of $66.50. The company has a market cap of $261.60 billion, a PE ratio of 28.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.88.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.88 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to buyback $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the network equipment provider to purchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.48%. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.99, for a total value of $46,474.38. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 44,155 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,693,013.45. This represents a 1.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 29,784 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.61, for a total value of $1,924,344.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 688,409 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,478,105.49. The trade was a 4.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 71,400 shares of company stock worth $4,564,439 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CSCO. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Barclays reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Cisco Systems from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $72.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $68.00.

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.