Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Lowers Holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lessened its stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,928,712 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 150,433 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems accounts for approximately 1.2% of Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. owned approximately 0.10% of Cisco Systems worth $198,479,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wealthspire Advisors LLC raised its position in Cisco Systems by 48.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 71,385 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $3,838,000 after buying an additional 23,194 shares during the last quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc increased its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 77.1% during the 4th quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 6,405 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $324,000 after purchasing an additional 2,788 shares during the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 64,136 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,448,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,685,000. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 4,470,521 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $240,335,000 after purchasing an additional 49,700 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of Cisco Systems stock opened at $47.86 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $193.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12 month low of $45.56 and a 12 month high of $58.19. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $48.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.06.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.03. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 33.01% and a net margin of 23.49%. The company had revenue of $12.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.76 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 4th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.34%. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.63%.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In related news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 2,497 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $124,850.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 58,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,906,050. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 3,002 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.01, for a total value of $150,130.02. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 191,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,579,865.59. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 2,497 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $124,850.00. Following the sale, 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 valued at $972,080 over the last quarter. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on CSCO shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Bank of America raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $60.00 in a report on Monday, April 15th. Melius Research reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.53.

Cisco Systems 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.