ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Buys 19,270 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 900,866 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 19,270 shares during the period. Cisco Systems accounts for about 2.0% of ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $47,944,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in Cisco Systems in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 222.4% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 661 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 456 shares during the period. West Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 116.6% in the third quarter. West Financial Advisors LLC now owns 574 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Group LLC boosted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 56.8% in the first quarter. Retirement Group LLC now owns 726 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of CSCO opened at $56.38 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $50.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $48.50. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a one year low of $44.50 and a one year high of $56.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market cap of $227.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.98, a P/E/G ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 0.83.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $13.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.53 billion. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 27.83% and a net margin of 19.18%. The company’s revenue was down 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.01 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 2.9 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 2nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.84%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 27,143 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.45, for a total transaction of $1,342,221.35. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 683,403 shares in the company, valued at $33,794,278.35. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Cisco Systems news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 27,143 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.45, for a total transaction of $1,342,221.35. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 683,403 shares in the company, valued at $33,794,278.35. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 1,328 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.92, for a total value of $64,965.76. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 132,910 shares in the company, valued at $6,501,957.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 70,529 shares of company stock worth $3,509,049. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Cisco Systems from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Barclays dropped their price target on Cisco Systems from $50.00 to $49.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Citigroup raised Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $52.00 to $62.00 in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.74.

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.