Next Level Private LLC Acquires 500 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Next Level Private LLC lifted its holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 9.0% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 6,060 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Next Level Private LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $374,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CSCO. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc raised its holdings in Cisco Systems by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 2,070 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $123,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Fairhaven Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Cisco Systems by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Fairhaven Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,581 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $449,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. BlackDiamond Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Cisco Systems by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. BlackDiamond Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,656 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $335,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Cisco Systems by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,100 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $302,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maple Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Cisco Systems by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Maple Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,984 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $709,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In related news, EVP Oliver Tuszik sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.53, for a total transaction of $952,950.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 131,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,365,376.28. This represents a 10.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jeetendra I. Patel sold 9,961 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.97, for a total transaction 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 have sold 41,616 shares of company stock valued at $2,640,095 in the last three months. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on CSCO shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target 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. Morgan Stanley reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Citigroup upped their price objective 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. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.00.

Cisco Systems Stock Up 0.4%

NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $64.62 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $59.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.27. The company has a market capitalization of $255.90 billion, a PE ratio of 28.22, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1-year low of $44.50 and a 1-year high of $66.50.

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

Cisco Systems announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to buyback $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the network equipment provider to purchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.94%.

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.