SFE Investment Counsel Raises Stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

SFE Investment Counsel boosted its holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 3.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 62,620 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,967 shares during the quarter. SFE Investment Counsel’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $2,975,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth $2,528,939,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Cisco Systems in the 1st quarter worth about $840,538,000. FIL Ltd lifted its stake in Cisco Systems by 47.1% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 18,922,422 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $955,961,000 after acquiring an additional 6,054,748 shares during the period. Natixis grew its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 438.4% in the first quarter. Natixis now owns 4,924,988 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $245,806,000 after acquiring an additional 4,010,228 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Cisco Systems by 29.0% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 17,727,214 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $895,576,000 after purchasing an additional 3,989,543 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cisco Systems news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 27,143 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.45, for a total transaction of $1,342,221.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 683,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,794,278.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 3,379 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.36, for a total transaction of $170,166.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 47,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,376,085.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 27,143 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.45, for a total transaction of $1,342,221.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 683,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,794,278.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 71,944 shares of company stock valued at $3,566,120 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Trading Down 1.3 %

CSCO stock opened at $48.50 on Friday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12 month low of $44.50 and a 12 month high of $57.09. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $47.84 and its 200 day moving average is $47.94. The company has a market capitalization of $195.40 billion, a PE ratio of 16.33, a P/E/G ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $13.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.53 billion. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 19.18% and a return on equity of 27.83%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 2.9 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 2nd. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is 53.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. HSBC raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $46.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, August 16th. Barclays cut their target price on Cisco Systems from $50.00 to $49.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Cisco Systems to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.89.

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.