MCF Advisors LLC Buys 1,999 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

MCF Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 8.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 25,990 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,999 shares during the period. MCF Advisors LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $1,297,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Toth Financial Advisory Corp grew its position in Cisco Systems by 0.3% in the first quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 221,788 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $11,069,000 after acquiring an additional 647 shares during the period. Weaver Consulting Group lifted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 40.0% during the first quarter. Weaver Consulting Group now owns 8,740 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $436,000 after acquiring an additional 2,496 shares during the period. Avity Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Avity Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,520 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky grew its holdings in Cisco Systems by 10.1% during the 1st quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 12,537 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $626,000 after acquiring an additional 1,150 shares during the period. Finally, S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 118.1% in the 1st quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 25,187 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,257,000 after purchasing an additional 13,640 shares during the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $55.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Cisco Systems from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Friday, April 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $52.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.47.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CSCO traded up $0.06 during trading on Friday, reaching $47.51. 23,921,057 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,878,226. The firm has a market cap of $191.41 billion, a PE ratio of 16.00, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12 month low of $44.95 and a 12 month high of $58.19. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $47.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $48.79.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 15th. The network equipment provider reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.18. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 21.88% and a return on equity of 30.82%. The business had revenue of $12.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.53 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. Cisco Systems’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Investors of record on Friday, July 5th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 5th. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is currently 53.87%.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In related news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 2,619 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.34, for a total value of $118,745.46. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 176,384 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,997,250.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 2,619 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.34, for a total transaction of $118,745.46. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 176,384 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,997,250.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 8,016 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.24, for a total value of $386,691.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 180,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,717,209.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,106 shares of company stock valued at $1,908,923 over the last quarter. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Cisco Systems 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.