Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA Sells 2,356 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA reduced its stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 9.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,683 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,356 shares during the period. Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $1,461,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Navigoe LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. JDM Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Cisco Systems by 160.4% in the 4th quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 487 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Cisco Systems stock opened at $63.34 on Thursday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $44.50 and a fifty-two week high of $66.50. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $59.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.04. The stock has a market cap of $250.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.04. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 26.08% and a net margin of 16.96%. The business had revenue of $14.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.88 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is currently 66.94%.

Cisco Systems announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the network equipment provider to purchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jeetendra I. Patel sold 9,961 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.97, for a total value of $637,205.17. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 257,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,450,653.14. The trade was a 3.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 762 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.99, for a total value of $46,474.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 44,155 shares in the company, valued at $2,693,013.45. This trade represents a 1.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 22,431 shares of company stock valued at $1,421,356. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.