ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Increases Stock Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 801,572 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,560 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems makes up approximately 2.1% of ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $40,496,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. United Bank bought a new position in Cisco Systems in the first quarter worth about $645,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 32.5% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,243,073 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $236,593,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040,607 shares in the last quarter. Roundview Capital LLC lifted its position in Cisco Systems by 13.1% during the first quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 10,540 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $588,000 after acquiring an additional 1,221 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Cisco Systems by 21.5% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 11,763 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $656,000 after acquiring an additional 2,079 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in Cisco Systems by 8.1% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,429,518 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $135,470,000 after purchasing an additional 182,857 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 13,942 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 328,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,424,550. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 2,497 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $124,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 58,121 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,906,050. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 13,942 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $697,100.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 328,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,424,550. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 19,441 shares of company stock valued at $972,080. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

Shares of CSCO stock traded up $0.21 on Friday, reaching $48.32. 20,962,402 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,502,734. The company has a market cap of $195.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.87. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1 year low of $45.56 and a 1 year high of $58.19. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $49.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.37.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.03. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 23.49% and a return on equity of 33.01%. The company had revenue of $12.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.76 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 4th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 3rd. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is 48.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CSCO. Citigroup began coverage on Cisco Systems in a research note on Friday, April 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $52.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $58.00 target price for the company. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.03.

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.