Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV Reduces Stock Holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Key Points

• Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV has reduced its holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. by 13.2%, owning 69,315 shares worth approximately $4.28 million after selling 10,528 shares in the first quarter.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.41 per share, to be paid on October 22nd, representing an annualized yield of 2.4%.
• Several analysts have revised their price targets for Cisco, with the consensus now suggesting a price target of $72.90, indicating an overall positive outlook with 16 buy ratings.

Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV decreased its holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 13.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 69,315 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after selling 10,528 shares during the quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $4,277,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Legacy Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Cisco Systems by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Legacy Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,100 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $302,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the period. Capital Advantage Inc. lifted its stake in Cisco Systems by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advantage Inc. now owns 17,361 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $1,028,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. Avalon Trust Co lifted its stake in Cisco Systems by 5.4% in the first quarter. Avalon Trust Co now owns 3,433 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $212,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the period. Rossmore Private Capital lifted its stake in Cisco Systems by 0.3% in the first quarter. Rossmore Private Capital now owns 69,220 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $4,272,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the period. Finally, Hemington Wealth Management lifted its position in Cisco Systems by 4.1% during the first quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 4,803 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $296,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 15,678 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.52, for a total transaction of $1,027,222.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 309,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,281,257.36. This trade represents a 4.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 2,407 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.01, for a total value of $154,072.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 177,027 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,331,498.27. The trade was a 1.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 77,731 shares of company stock worth $5,021,519 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.

Cisco Systems Trading Down 1.6%

Cisco Systems stock opened at $69.30 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.28. The company has a market cap of $274.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.91. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $47.85 and a 52-week high of $72.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 13th. The network equipment provider reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $14.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.63 billion. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 27.24% and a net margin of 18.45%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.87 EPS. Analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Cisco Systems from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday. New Street Research reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Monday, June 16th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Cisco Systems from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Cisco Systems from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Thursday. Eight investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Cisco Systems has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $72.90.

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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