Element Capital Management LLC Takes Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Element Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 44,131 shares of the network equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,723,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Horizon Investments LLC grew its position in Cisco Systems by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 83,450 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $5,115,000 after acquiring an additional 2,144 shares during the last quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC grew its position in Cisco Systems by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC now owns 21,066 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $1,300,000 after acquiring an additional 870 shares during the last quarter. Certuity LLC grew its position in Cisco Systems by 9.1% during the 1st quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 47,097 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $2,906,000 after acquiring an additional 3,911 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its position in Cisco Systems by 78.2% during the 1st quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 587,576 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $36,259,000 after acquiring an additional 257,832 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. grew its position in Cisco Systems by 107.3% during the 1st quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 113,193 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $6,985,000 after acquiring an additional 58,598 shares during the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Cisco Systems from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $65.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Barclays upped their price objective on Cisco Systems from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday. Citigroup upped their price objective on Cisco Systems from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Cisco Systems from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $72.90.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In related news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 2,407 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.01, for a total transaction of $154,072.07. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 177,027 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,331,498.27. This trade represents a 1.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 15,678 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.52, for a total value of $1,027,222.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 309,543 shares in the company, valued at $20,281,257.36. The trade was a 4.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 77,731 shares of company stock worth $5,021,519 in the last three months. 0.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

CSCO stock opened at $69.30 on Friday. The business's fifty day moving average is $67.98 and its 200-day moving average is $63.28. 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 company has a market cap of $274.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.91. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $47.85 and a twelve month high of $72.55.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 13th. The network equipment provider reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $14.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.63 billion. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 27.24% and a net margin of 18.45%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.87 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 3rd. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.

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