Sunbelt Securities Inc. Boosts Holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO – Get Rating) by 1.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 57,631 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,076 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $2,305,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CSCO. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 377,757,324 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $15,110,293,000 after purchasing an additional 5,586,273 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 6.1% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 53,356,141 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,975,139,000 after purchasing an additional 3,087,294 shares in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox grew its holdings in Cisco Systems by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 47,111,072 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,008,816,000 after buying an additional 408,930 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in Cisco Systems by 1.7% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 36,134,446 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,540,775,000 after purchasing an additional 611,068 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 28,856,199 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,154,248,000 after buying an additional 407,992 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 16th. Loop Capital boosted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 16th. UBS Group upped their price target on Cisco Systems from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 16th. DZ Bank raised Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $58.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, February 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $56.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Prat Bhatt sold 608 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.74, for a total transaction of $29,633.92. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 50,162 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,444,895.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 20,117 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.08, for a total value of $987,342.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 798,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,213,447.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Prat Bhatt sold 608 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.74, for a total transaction of $29,633.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 50,162 shares in the company, valued at $2,444,895.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 47,568 shares of company stock worth $2,376,624. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

CSCO opened at $50.19 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.32. The firm has a market cap of $205.57 billion, a PE ratio of 18.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.00. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.60 and a fifty-two week high of $56.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 15th. The network equipment provider reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $13.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.41 billion. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 31.19% and a net margin of 21.26%. Cisco Systems’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.77 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 5th will be given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 4th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.11%. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is currently 55.68%.

About Cisco Systems

(Get Rating)

Cisco Systems, Inc engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of Internet Protocol-based networking products and services related to the communications and information technology industry. The firm operates through the following geographical segments: the Americas, EMEA, and APJC. Its products include the following categories: Switches, Routers, Wireless, Network Management Interfaces and Modules, Optical Networking, Access Points, Outdoor and Industrial Access Points, Next-Generation Firewalls, Advanced Malware Protection, VPN Security Clients, Email, and Web Security.