Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Has $76.65 Million Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 114.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,242,016 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 664,064 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems accounts for about 1.5% of Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $76,645,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Navigoe LLC bought a new position in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. JDM Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 160.4% in the fourth quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 487 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

CSCO opened at $64.19 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $254.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.03, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.88. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $60.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $60.49. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1-year low of $44.50 and a 1-year high of $66.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

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

Cisco Systems declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the network equipment provider to buy up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication 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 issued a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.55%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.94%.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In other news, EVP Oliver Tuszik sold 15,000 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.53, for a total value of $952,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 131,676 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,365,376.28. The trade was a 10.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 29,784 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.61, for a total value of $1,924,344.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 688,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,478,105.49. This represents a 4.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 68,573 shares of company stock valued at $4,392,619. 0.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CSCO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup raised their target price on Cisco Systems from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $72.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Eight equities research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.00.

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.