J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Grows Stock Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 99.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 66,611 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 33,237 shares during the quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $3,365,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. United Bank purchased a new position in Cisco Systems in the 1st quarter worth approximately $645,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 32.5% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,243,073 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $236,593,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040,607 shares during the period. Roundview Capital LLC grew its holdings in Cisco Systems by 13.1% during the 1st quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 10,540 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $588,000 after purchasing an additional 1,221 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Cisco Systems by 21.5% during the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 11,763 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $656,000 after purchasing an additional 2,079 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in Cisco Systems by 8.1% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,429,518 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $135,470,000 after buying an additional 182,857 shares during the period. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 2,497 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $124,850.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 58,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,906,050. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 13,942 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $697,100.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 328,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,424,550. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 2,497 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $124,850.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 58,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,906,050. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 19,441 shares of company stock worth $972,080 over the last ninety days. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of Cisco Systems stock traded up $0.21 during trading on Friday, hitting $48.32. 20,964,433 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,323,960. The stock has a market cap of $195.66 billion, a PE ratio of 14.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.87. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $49.07 and its 200 day moving average is $50.25. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12 month low of $45.56 and a 12 month high of $58.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.37.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $12.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.71 billion. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 23.49% and a return on equity of 33.01%. Cisco Systems’s revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.76 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.14 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 3rd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group raised their target price on Cisco Systems from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. StockNews.com lowered Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $52.00 target price on the stock. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.03.

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.