Traders Buy High Volume of Cisco Systems Call Options (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) saw some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders bought 89,631 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 27% compared to the average volume of 70,786 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 281,860 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.35, for a total transaction of $22,083,731.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 820,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,316,496.45. This represents a 25.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 164,584 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.85, for a total value of $12,812,864.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 196,738 shares in the company, valued at $15,316,053.30. This trade represents a 45.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 1,044,865 shares of company stock valued at $81,397,635 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cisco Systems

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CSCO. Bare Financial Services Inc boosted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 531.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bare Financial Services Inc now owns 366 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the period. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Cisco Systems in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Cisco Systems News

Here are the key news stories impacting Cisco Systems this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Evercore ISI raised its price target to $175 and kept an “outperform” rating — a very bullish analyst move that signals large upside versus the current price and likely helped lift the stock. MarketScreener
• Positive Sentiment: Unusual options flow: investors bought ~89,631 call options (≈27% above typical daily call volume), indicating short-term bullish positioning that can amplify upward price moves as traders adjust hedges or exercise exposure.
• Neutral Sentiment: Cisco scheduled its Q2 FY2026 earnings conference call for Feb. 11 — a near-term catalyst that could further move the stock depending on results, guidance and commentary on networking and AI demand. PR Newswire
• Neutral Sentiment: Media and analyst write-ups are proliferating (Zacks, MSN) discussing whether brokers’ positive views are warranted — this coverage can attract flows but may also increase volatility around earnings. Zacks: Is Cisco a Good Investment?
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks also flagged that Cisco is attracting investor attention — useful context but not new fundamental news; serves mainly to explain increased trading volume. Zacks: Attracting Attention
• Neutral Sentiment: MSN ran a roundup of analyst views on Cisco — signals ongoing coverage but no single negative catalyst reported. MSN
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader industry note: a CNBC piece on rising interest in AI agents highlights secular demand for compute, networking and security — a potential tailwind for Cisco over time but not an immediate earnings driver. CNBC
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short-interest figures in the feed are non-informative (showing zeros/NaN) and don’t suggest a meaningful short squeeze risk at present.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on CSCO shares. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on Cisco Systems from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $90.38.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 3.1%

Cisco Systems stock traded up $2.47 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $83.11. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 34,862,760 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,700,535. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $76.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $328.38 billion, a PE ratio of 31.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.87. Cisco Systems has a 1 year low of $52.11 and a 1 year high of $83.25.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The network equipment provider reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $14.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.77 billion. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 27.29% and a net margin of 18.38%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.91 EPS. Cisco Systems has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.080-4.140 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 1.010-1.030 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were given a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 2nd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.65%.

About Cisco Systems

Cisco Systems, Inc is a global technology company that designs, manufactures and sells networking hardware, software and telecommunications equipment. Its core business focuses on enabling enterprise and service-provider networks through products such as routers, switches, network security appliances and wireless systems. Over time Cisco has broadened its portfolio to emphasize software-defined networking, cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure and edge computing solutions that help organizations build and manage modern IT environments.

In addition to hardware, Cisco offers a growing range of software platforms and subscription services for network management, security, analytics and collaboration.