Rosenblatt Securities Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Stock

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) had its price target lifted by stock analysts at Rosenblatt Securities from $150.00 to $165.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the network equipment provider’s stock. Rosenblatt Securities’ price target would suggest a potential upside of 33.19% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. BNP Paribas Exane increased their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $87.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Evercore raised their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $110.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Zacks Research downgraded Cisco Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. HSBC upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $77.00 to $137.00 in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Citic Securities boosted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $90.00 to $130.00 in a report on Friday, May 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $126.48.

Cisco Systems Stock Up 2.9%

NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $123.88 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $488.27 billion, a PE ratio of 40.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Cisco Systems has a 1-year low of $65.75 and a 1-year high of $130.37. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $117.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $98.72.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The network equipment provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.05. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 20.14% and a return on equity of 28.44%. The business had revenue of $17.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.99 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. Cisco Systems has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.050-5.110 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.320-1.340 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Cisco Systems will post 3.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In other news, insider Jeetendra I. Patel sold 7,169 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.28, for a total value of $840,780.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 246,737 shares in the company, valued at $28,937,315.36. This trade represents a 2.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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 Oliver Tuszik sold 2,761 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.61, for a total transaction of $316,438.21. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 180,877 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,730,312.97. The trade was a 1.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 have sold a total of 47,650 shares of company stock worth $5,668,823 in the last three months. 0.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cisco Systems

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CSCO. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Cisco Systems by 49.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 74,187 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,392,000 after buying an additional 24,562 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 37.0% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,156 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $542,000 after acquiring an additional 2,474 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 7.5% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 10,178 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $706,000 after acquiring an additional 712 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 13,974 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $969,000 after acquiring an additional 519 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 118.1% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 90,650 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $6,289,000 after acquiring an additional 590,650 shares during the period. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Cisco Systems

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

• Positive Sentiment: AI-driven demand remains a major growth catalyst. Cisco reported record fourth-quarter revenue of approximately $17.3 billion, up 18% year over year, while networking product orders increased 40%. AI infrastructure orders totaled $4 billion in the quarter and $9.3 billion for fiscal 2026, with management expecting approximately $7.5 billion of AI infrastructure revenue in fiscal 2027. Cisco fiscal 2026 earnings release
• Positive Sentiment: Results and forward guidance exceeded consensus. Adjusted earnings of $1.22 per share topped the $1.17 estimate, and revenue of $17.25 billion exceeded the $16.84 billion forecast. Cisco guided for fiscal first-quarter revenue of $18.0 billion to $18.2 billion and adjusted EPS of $1.32 to $1.34, well above analysts’ expectations. Fiscal 2027 revenue guidance of $72.2 billion to $73.4 billion and adjusted EPS guidance of $5.05 to $5.11 also surpassed consensus. Reuters Cisco forecast article
• Neutral Sentiment: Quarterly dividend maintained. Cisco declared a $0.42-per-share dividend, payable October 21 to shareholders of record October 2, representing an indicated yield of approximately 1.4%.
• Negative Sentiment: Gross-margin pressure is the key concern. Analysts acknowledged the record results but said squeezed gross margins could limit the benefit of stronger sales. Investors may also be concerned that AI networking growth requires substantial investment and could carry lower margins than Cisco’s traditional business. MarketWatch margin concerns article
• Negative Sentiment: The earnings beat may not have cleared an elevated bar. With CSCO trading near its 52-week high and at roughly 40 times earnings, investors appear to be demanding accelerating growth rather than merely strong results. The pullback reflects profit-taking and skepticism that the AI-driven “supercycle” can justify the stock’s premium valuation over the longer term. Barron’s Cisco AI demand article

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.