Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Decreases Stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. cut its position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 323,672 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 543 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $16,352,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wealth Dimensions Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Dimensions Group Ltd. now owns 13,401 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $693,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services grew its stake in Cisco Systems by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 14,831 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $797,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC increased its position in Cisco Systems by 0.9% during the third quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 20,996 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,129,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the period. Cassia Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Cisco Systems by 1.4% in the third quarter. Cassia Capital Partners LLC now owns 13,950 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $750,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Waddell & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.8% in 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 period. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $52.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Cisco Systems from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Melius cut Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Melius Research reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.42.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In related news, 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 328,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,424,550. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, 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 completion of the transaction, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 3,002 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.01, for a total value of $150,130.02. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 191,559 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,579,865.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 19,441 shares of company stock worth $972,080. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of CSCO stock opened at $48.74 on Thursday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $45.56 and a 52-week high of $58.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.37. The stock has a market cap of $197.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.87. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $49.60 and a 200-day moving average of $50.69.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $12.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.71 billion. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 23.49% and a return on equity of 33.01%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.76 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.42%.

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.