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

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 2.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 900,866 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,270 shares during the period. Cisco Systems makes up approximately 2.0% of ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $47,944,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in Cisco Systems in the second quarter valued at $25,000. West Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 116.6% during the 3rd quarter. West Financial Advisors LLC now owns 574 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the period. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 222.4% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 661 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 456 shares during the period. Retirement Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 56.8% during the 1st 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 period. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 4.3 %

Shares of CSCO opened at $56.38 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $50.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.50. The stock has a market cap of $227.14 billion, a PE ratio of 18.98, a P/E/G ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 0.83. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12 month low of $44.50 and a 12 month high of $56.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $13.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 2.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 2nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.87%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 638 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.09, for a total value of $31,319.42. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 46,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,258,974.53. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Cisco Systems news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 638 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.09, for a total transaction of $31,319.42. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 46,017 shares in the company, valued at $2,258,974.53. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 1,328 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.92, for a total transaction of $64,965.76. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 132,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,501,957.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 70,529 shares of company stock worth $3,509,049. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. HSBC upgraded Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $46.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Barclays reduced their target price on Cisco Systems from $50.00 to $49.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $52.00 price target on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Cisco Systems from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.74.

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.