Welch & Forbes LLC Reduces Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Welch & Forbes LLC trimmed its holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 619,132 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 8,067 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $31,279,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 41.9% in the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 704 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the period. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 3,500.0% in the fourth quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 720 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of Cisco Systems stock traded down $0.01 on Monday, hitting $47.11. 14,161,773 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,119,422. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52 week low of $45.70 and a 52 week high of $58.19. The company has a market cap of $190.76 billion, a PE ratio of 14.32, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.87. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $48.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.73. 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 (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $12.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.71 billion. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 33.01% and a net margin of 23.49%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.76 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 4th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 3rd. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $53.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price target on Cisco Systems from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Cisco Systems in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $58.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Friday, April 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $52.00 target price for the company. Finally, Melius Research reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.53.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 13,942 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 3,002 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.01, for a total transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 13,942 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $697,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 328,491 shares in the company, valued at $16,424,550. 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 ninety days. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.