J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Trims Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Key Points

• J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG has reduced its holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. by 16.0%, now owning 23,278 shares worth approximately $1.4 million.
• Major brokerages have upgraded Cisco Systems, with Wells Fargo raising its rating to "overweight" and increasing the price target from $72 to $75.
• Cisco Systems announced a quarterly dividend of $0.41 per share, reflecting a 2.4% yield and a payout ratio of 66.94%.

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG cut its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 16.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 23,278 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after selling 4,418 shares during the period. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $1,436,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Navigoe LLC purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. JDM Financial Group LLC grew 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 worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Fairway Wealth LLC grew 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 worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. 73.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CSCO. Wells Fargo & Company raised Cisco Systems from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $72.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $65.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Monday, June 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Cisco Systems from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Cisco Systems from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, KeyCorp started coverage on Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $77.00 target price on the stock. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $70.35.

Insider Activity

In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 8,726 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.54, for a total transaction of $571,902.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 174,669 shares in the company, valued at $11,447,806.26. This trade represents a 4.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 2,407 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.01, for a total value of $154,072.07. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 177,027 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,331,498.27. This represents a 1.34% 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 in the last three months. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Cisco Systems Stock Down 1.4%

CSCO stock opened at $67.11 on Monday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $44.50 and a fifty-two week high of $69.78. The business's 50-day moving average is $66.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $62.76. 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 company has a market cap of $265.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.91.

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. The business had revenue of $14.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.05 billion. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 26.48% and a net margin of 17.60%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.88 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast 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 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 was Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.

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