Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Sold by Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC.

Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. decreased its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 162,426 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 3,700 shares during the period. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC.’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $9,616,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of CSCO. Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at about $603,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 50,077 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,965,000 after acquiring an additional 3,252 shares during the period. Krilogy Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 11,622 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $688,000 after acquiring an additional 1,001 shares in the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust increased its stake in Cisco Systems by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 15,024 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $889,000 after purchasing an additional 1,221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ellsworth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Cisco Systems by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 104,744 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $6,201,000 after purchasing an additional 1,711 shares during the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on CSCO shares. UBS Group upped their target price on Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted 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. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $61.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 11,808 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total transaction of $760,080.96. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 200,191 shares in the company, valued at $12,886,294.67. The trade was a 5.57% 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 link. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 2,065 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.70, for a total transaction of $125,345.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 191,184 shares in the company, valued at $11,604,868.80. This represents a 1.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 14,635 shares of company stock worth $931,901. Insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

Cisco Systems stock opened at $63.92 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $58.82 and a 200-day moving average of $59.78. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.50 and a 52-week high of $66.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $254.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.91, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.89.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.04. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 26.08% and a net margin of 16.96%. The firm had revenue of $14.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. Cisco Systems’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is currently 66.94%.

Cisco Systems announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the network equipment provider to buy up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.