Convergence Investment Partners LLC Increases Stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Convergence Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 107.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 89,225 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 46,127 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems makes up approximately 1.5% of Convergence Investment Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Convergence Investment Partners LLC's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $5,506,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CSCO. Navigoe LLC acquired a new position in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. JDM Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Cisco Systems by 160.4% in the 4th quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 487 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 224.7% in the 1st quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 578 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In related news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.07, for a total transaction of $48,821.34. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 36,937 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,366,553.59. This trade represents a 2.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 15,678 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.52, for a total transaction of $1,027,222.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 309,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,281,257.36. This trade represents a 4.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 97,335 shares of company stock valued at $6,271,054 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Cisco Systems from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $72.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. New Street Research reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Cisco Systems in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. They issued a "peer perform" rating for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Cisco Systems from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on Cisco Systems from $63.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Cisco Systems has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $70.35.

Cisco Systems Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ CSCO traded up $0.40 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $68.69. 11,589,031 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,593,400. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $66.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.41. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a one year low of $44.50 and a one year high of $69.78. The company has a market cap of $272.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.04, a P/E/G ratio of 4.09 and a beta of 0.90.

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

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd were given 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 2.39%. Cisco Systems's payout ratio is 66.94%.

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.