Davis Investment Partners LLC Boosts Stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Davis Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 17.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,545 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 811 shares during the quarter. Davis Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $318,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CSCO. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth $3,297,905,000. FMR LLC raised its position in Cisco Systems by 20.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 77,216,513 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $4,571,218,000 after purchasing an additional 13,285,052 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth $560,722,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new position in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth $413,491,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Cisco Systems by 7,096.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,718,402 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $414,593,000 after purchasing an additional 6,625,045 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of CSCO opened at $64.19 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $60.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $254.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.03, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1-year low of $44.50 and a 1-year high of $66.50.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.04. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 16.96% and a return on equity of 26.08%. The business had revenue of $14.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. Cisco Systems’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the network equipment provider to buy up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be paid a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.55%. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is currently 66.94%.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In other news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 4,185 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.51, for a total transaction of $265,789.35. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 38,103 shares in the company, valued at $2,419,921.53. This represents a 9.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jeetendra I. Patel sold 9,961 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.97, for a total value of $637,205.17. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 257,162 shares in the company, valued at $16,450,653.14. This trade represents a 3.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 68,573 shares of company stock valued at $4,392,619 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on CSCO shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.00.

Cisco Systems Company 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.