Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Purchased by Global Financial Private Client LLC

Global Financial Private Client LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 12.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,895 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 4,559 shares during the period. Cisco Systems accounts for about 0.9% of Global Financial Private Client LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Global Financial Private Client LLC's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $2,462,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Navigoe LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. JDM Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 160.4% during the 4th quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 487 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on CSCO shares. DZ Bank upgraded Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Cisco Systems from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. New Street Research reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen raised Cisco Systems from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $68.00.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

CSCO traded down $0.24 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $62.81. 25,829,006 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,244,721. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1-year low of $44.50 and a 1-year high of $66.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $248.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.89. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $59.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.11.

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

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be paid a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.94%.

Cisco Systems announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the network equipment provider to reacquire up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jeetendra I. Patel sold 9,961 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.97, for a total transaction of $637,205.17. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 257,162 shares in the company, valued at $16,450,653.14. This trade represents a 3.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.99, for a total transaction of $46,474.38. Following the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,616 shares of company stock valued at $2,640,095 in the last ninety days. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.