Metis Global Partners LLC Acquires 46,990 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 25.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 233,173 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 46,990 shares during the quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $11,780,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CSCO. Waddell & Associates LLC increased its position in Cisco Systems by 0.8% during the third quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 24,693 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,328,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,686 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the period. Winch Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 19.3% in the third quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Gill Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Cisco Systems by 5.2% during the third quarter. Gill Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,155 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $223,000 after buying an additional 207 shares during the period. Finally, Madrona Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in Cisco Systems by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Madrona Financial Services LLC now owns 8,970 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $453,000 after buying an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In other news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 13,942 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $697,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 328,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,424,550. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 3,002 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.01, for a total value of $150,130.02. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 191,559 shares in the company, valued at $9,579,865.59. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 13,942 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $697,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 328,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,424,550. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 19,441 shares of company stock worth $972,080. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CSCO. Melius Research reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Bank of America raised Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Friday, April 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $52.00 price target for the company. Finally, Melius downgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.53.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

CSCO traded up $0.33 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $47.12. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 17,935,302 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,219,910. The stock has a market cap of $190.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.87. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $48.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.77. 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.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.03. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 23.49% and a return on equity of 33.01%. The firm had revenue of $12.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.76 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is currently 48.63%.

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.