Gulf International Bank UK Ltd Cuts Stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Key Points

• Gulf International Bank UK Ltd has reduced its stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. by 28.6%, selling 91,219 shares, leaving it with 228,255 shares valued at approximately $14.1 million.
• During the fourth quarter, several institutional investors increased their stakes in Cisco, with Brighton Jones LLC boosting its position by 49.5%.
• The consensus rating for Cisco is a "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $70.55, while the stock recently opened at $71.38.

Gulf International Bank UK Ltd trimmed its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 28.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 228,255 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after selling 91,219 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems makes up approximately 0.5% of Gulf International Bank UK Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $14,085,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Navigoe LLC purchased a new position in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. JDM Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Cisco Systems by 160.4% in the fourth 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. Pandora Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Cisco Systems by 224.7% in the first quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 578 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on CSCO shares. New Street Research restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Friday, May 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $76.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $72.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 15,678 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 29,784 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.61, for a total value of $1,924,344.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 688,409 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,478,105.49. This trade represents a 4.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 97,335 shares of company stock valued at $6,271,054 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of Cisco Systems stock traded down $1.10 during trading on Thursday, hitting $69.30. 39,252,921 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,527,305. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $63.21. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $47.85 and a 52-week high of $72.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $274.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.29, a PEG ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.91.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 13th. The network equipment provider reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.01. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 17.60% and a return on equity of 26.48%. The firm had revenue of $14.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.63 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.87 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 3rd will be issued a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 3rd. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Cisco Systems's payout ratio is presently 66.94%.

Cisco Systems Company 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.