Gries Financial LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Gries Financial LLC cut its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 11.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 39,975 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after selling 5,311 shares during the quarter. Gries Financial LLC's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $2,467,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC grew its stake in Cisco Systems by 20.8% in 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 buying an additional 13,285,052 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,297,905,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 47,238,258 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $2,796,505,000 after acquiring an additional 4,832,813 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Cisco Systems by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 36,471,275 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $2,159,099,000 after purchasing an additional 2,637,006 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Cisco Systems by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 29,419,041 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $1,741,597,000 after purchasing an additional 681,555 shares during the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

Cisco Systems stock traded down $0.44 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $68.18. 5,512,999 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,337,340. The company's fifty day moving average is $66.24 and its 200-day moving average is $62.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market cap of $270.00 billion, a PE ratio of 27.83, a PEG ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.90. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52 week low of $44.50 and a 52 week high of $69.78.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last issued 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 17.60% and a return on equity of 26.48%. The firm had revenue of $14.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 3rd. Cisco Systems's payout ratio is 66.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI raised 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 restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $63.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $65.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $70.35.

Insider Activity

In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 8,726 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.54, for a total value of $571,902.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 174,669 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,447,806.26. The trade was a 4.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jeetendra I. Patel sold 899 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.27, for a total transaction of $57,778.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 255,377 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,413,079.79. This trade represents a 0.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 97,335 shares of company stock worth $6,271,054. 0.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.