Welch & Forbes LLC Has $40.33 Million Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Welch & Forbes LLC raised its stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 2.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 653,597 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 14,845 shares during the quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $40,334,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CSCO. Navigoe LLC purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. JDM Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 160.4% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 224.7% in the 1st 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company's stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ CSCO traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $68.24. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,467,235 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,254,764. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $44.50 and a fifty-two week high of $69.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $270.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.84, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.03.

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 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.05 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CSCO. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $63.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. KeyCorp started coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, June 26th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $77.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $65.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $70.35.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 29,784 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.61, for a total value of $1,924,344.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 688,409 shares in the company, valued at $44,478,105.49. The trade was a 4.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Oliver Tuszik sold 15,000 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 131,676 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,365,376.28. This represents a 10.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 97,335 shares of company stock valued at $6,271,054. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.

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.