Cisco Systems, Inc. $CSCO Shares Sold by Optas LLC

Optas LLC reduced its stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 50.4% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 20,335 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 20,667 shares during the period. Optas LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $1,578,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in CSCO. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 398,943,293 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $30,730,602,000 after buying an additional 4,049,893 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Cisco Systems by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 195,521,161 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $15,060,995,000 after buying an additional 1,057,962 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 75,326,258 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,802,382,000 after acquiring an additional 206,352 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 59,836,782 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $4,609,227,000 after acquiring an additional 6,224,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,473,272,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Zacks Research raised Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Cisco Systems from $86.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Cisco Systems from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Evercore lifted their price target on Cisco Systems from $110.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.14.

Key Headlines Impacting Cisco Systems

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

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks upgraded Cisco to Strong Buy, signaling improving earnings expectations and stronger analyst confidence in the stock’s outlook. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary highlighted Cisco as a potential AI infrastructure winner, citing record quarterly revenue, raised full-year guidance, and expected $9 billion in AI infrastructure orders from hyperscalers in fiscal 2026. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst coverage from Zacks also placed Cisco among the blue-chip names to watch for the second half of 2026, reinforcing its appeal as a defensive-growth stock. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Cisco partnered with College Board to launch AP Cybersecurity and expand career-connected learning, a positive long-term brand and talent-development move but not an immediate earnings driver. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Market coverage noted the stock’s recent move lower, but the broader catalyst discussion suggests investors are weighing the pullback against stronger fundamentals and upgrade-driven optimism. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: One article referenced past Cisco performance during the Dot-Com era as a cautionary comparison, which may temper enthusiasm for some growth-focused investors, though it is not a new fundamental concern. Article Title

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In other news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 7,127 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.91, for a total transaction of $854,598.57. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 140,857 shares in the company, valued at $16,890,162.87. The trade was a 4.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 6,586 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.31, for a total transaction of $772,603.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 177,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,790,030.13. This represents a 3.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 47,650 shares of company stock worth $5,668,823 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

CSCO stock opened at $112.69 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $112.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $90.58. The firm has a market cap of $444.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.59, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.92. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.75 and a 1 year high of $130.37.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The network equipment provider reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.03. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 28.44% and a net margin of 20.14%.The company had revenue of $15.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.96 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Cisco Systems has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 1.160-1.180 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 4.270-4.290 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.54 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, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 6th will be issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 6th. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is 54.55%.

Cisco Systems Company Profile

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.