Mediolanum International Funds Ltd Lowers Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Key Points

• Mediolanum International Funds Ltd has reduced its stake in Cisco Systems by 12.9%, now holding 797,871 shares valued at approximately $48.6 million.
• Insider sales were notable, with CFO Richard Scott Herren and EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf selling shares, contributing to a total of 97,335 shares sold by insiders in the last 90 days.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Cisco, with price targets ranging from $70 to $78, and a general outlook of "Moderate Buy" based on multiple assessments.

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd lowered its stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 12.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 797,871 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after selling 118,606 shares during the quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $48,558,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Navigoe LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. JDM Financial Group LLC grew its position in Cisco Systems by 160.4% in the 4th 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. Fairway Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 224.7% during the first quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 578 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company's stock.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 0.7%

Cisco Systems stock traded up $0.49 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $68.45. 5,772,732 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,167,396. 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 firm's 50 day simple moving average is $66.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $62.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $271.04 billion, a PE ratio of 27.93, a PEG ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.90. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $44.50 and a twelve month high of $69.78.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.04. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 17.60% and a return on equity of 26.48%. The business had revenue of $14.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd were paid a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.40%. Cisco Systems's payout ratio is 66.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CSCO. KeyCorp initiated coverage on Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, June 26th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $77.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Cisco Systems from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $72.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Barclays reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Evercore ISI reissued an "in-line" rating and issued a $72.00 target price on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Cisco Systems from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $70.35.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cisco Systems news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 29,784 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.61, for a total transaction of $1,924,344.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 688,409 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,478,105.49. The trade was a 4.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jeetendra I. Patel sold 9,961 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.97, for a total transaction of $637,205.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 257,162 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,450,653.14. The trade was a 3.73% decrease in their position. 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 quarter. 0.01% of the stock is currently 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.