Navellier & Associates Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Key Points

• Navellier & Associates Inc. increased its Cisco Systems holdings by 664.2% in Q1, owning 61,901 shares valued at $3.67 million.
• Cisco reported an earnings per share of $0.96 for the most recent quarter, exceeding estimates, with revenue up by 11.4% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.41 per share, with a current yield of 2.39% and a payout ratio of 66.94%.

Navellier & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 664.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 61,901 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 53,801 shares during the period. Navellier & Associates Inc.'s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $3,672,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 20.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 77,216,513 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $4,571,218,000 after purchasing an additional 13,285,052 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth $3,297,905,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 47,238,258 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $2,796,505,000 after purchasing an additional 4,832,813 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 36,471,275 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $2,159,099,000 after purchasing an additional 2,637,006 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 29,419,041 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $1,741,597,000 after purchasing an additional 681,555 shares in the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of Cisco Systems stock traded up $0.40 during trading on Friday, hitting $68.69. The stock had a trading volume of 11,589,031 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,593,400. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $66.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.41. The stock has a market cap of $272.01 billion, a PE ratio of 28.04, a PEG ratio of 4.09 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.87. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12 month low of $44.50 and a 12 month high of $69.78.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $14.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.05 billion. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 17.60% and a return on equity of 26.48%. The business's revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.39%. Cisco Systems's payout ratio is 66.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on CSCO shares. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $77.00 target price for the company. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $63.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. They set a "peer perform" rating for the company. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $70.35.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In related news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 15,678 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 309,543 shares in the company, valued at $20,281,257.36. This trade represents a 4.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.07, for a total transaction of $48,821.34. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 36,937 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,366,553.59. The trade was a 2.02% 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 worth $6,271,054 over the last ninety days. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Cisco Systems

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.