Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Acquired by Natixis Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in Cisco Systems by 23.1% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 641,970 shares, bringing its total ownership to approximately 3,419,821 shares valued at $211 million.
• The latest quarterly earnings report showed Cisco earned $0.96 per share, beating analysts' expectations of $0.92, and reported a revenue increase of 11.4% year-over-year.
• Analyst ratings for Cisco Systems are generally positive, with several firms giving it an "overweight" or "buy" rating, and a consensus target price of $70.35.

Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 23.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,419,821 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 641,970 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned 0.09% of Cisco Systems worth $211,038,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CSCO. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 49.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 74,187 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $4,392,000 after buying an additional 24,562 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 37.0% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,156 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $542,000 after purchasing an additional 2,474 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in Cisco Systems by 50.3% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 6,627,956 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $392,375,000 after purchasing an additional 2,219,311 shares during the period. Summit Financial LLC grew its stake in Cisco Systems by 55.0% during the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 82,275 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $4,871,000 after buying an additional 29,187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nemes Rush Group LLC raised its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 243,781 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $14,432,000 after buying an additional 14,626 shares in the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cisco Systems Trading Down 1.9%

NASDAQ:CSCO traded down $1.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $66.76. 2,724,325 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,085,338. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52 week low of $44.50 and a 52 week high of $69.78. The firm's 50 day moving average is $66.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $62.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $264.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.24, a PEG ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.90. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $14.15 billion for 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%. Cisco Systems's revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. On average, equities 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd were issued a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. Cisco Systems's payout ratio is currently 66.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CSCO. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $65.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Monday, June 16th. New Street Research reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Friday, May 16th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Cisco Systems from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Evercore ISI reiterated an "in-line" rating and set a $72.00 target price on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 12th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cisco Systems currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $70.35.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 9,643 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.50, for a total transaction of $612,330.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 181,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,505,311. This represents a 5.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Oliver Tuszik sold 15,000 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.53, for a total transaction of $952,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 131,676 shares in the company, valued at $8,365,376.28. This represents a 10.23% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 97,335 shares of company stock valued at $6,271,054. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.