Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Saturday morning.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $86.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Zacks Research lowered Cisco Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Citigroup raised their price target on Cisco Systems from $90.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Cisco Systems from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $100.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.43.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of CSCO opened at $112.90 on Friday. Cisco Systems has a twelve month low of $65.75 and a twelve month high of $130.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $444.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.80, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.02. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $116.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $99.48.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The network equipment provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $17.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.84 billion. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 20.95% and a return on equity of 30.16%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.99 EPS. 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, research analysts predict that Cisco Systems will post 4.09 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 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 2nd 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 Friday, October 2nd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is 50.30%.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In related news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 7,127 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.91, for a total transaction of $854,598.57. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 140,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,890,162.87. This represents a 4.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 21,628 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.54, for a total transaction of $2,412,387.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 602,710 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,226,273.40. This trade represents a 3.46% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 69,179 shares of company stock worth $7,985,229 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Cisco Systems in the second quarter valued at $42,129,647,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth about $4,473,272,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its stake in Cisco Systems by 8,718.3% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 51,952,421 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $400,190,000 after buying an additional 51,363,281 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems in the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,892,379,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems in the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,714,574,000. 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: Cisco reported record quarterly revenue of approximately $17.3 billion, up 18% year over year, while non-GAAP earnings per share reached $1.22 and surpassed consensus estimates. Management also issued an optimistic fiscal 2027 outlook, supporting the growth case. Why Cisco Stock Is Down Today
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentators characterize the roughly 8% post-earnings decline as an overreaction, arguing that Cisco’s improving AI networking opportunity and strong results may provide support for the shares. Cisco: This 8% Selloff Looks Like An Overreaction
• Neutral Sentiment: The latest quarter benefited from higher hardware prices, a heavier product mix and pricing actions intended to offset rising memory costs. However, those same memory expenses and the hardware mix pressured product margins, creating a key profitability concern for investors. Cisco Grew Faster By Selling Hardware and Charging More for It
• Neutral Sentiment: Several reports highlighted exchange-traded funds that provide exposure to Cisco’s AI-driven growth while reducing the risk of holding the individual stock, indicating continued interest in the company but also investor caution after the selloff. ETFs to Buy as Cisco Shares Sink
• Negative Sentiment: HSBC downgraded Cisco to Hold, which may limit near-term upside and reflects caution regarding the stock’s valuation and post-earnings performance. Cisco Systems Cut to Hold at HSBC
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Charles Robbins and three other insiders sold a combined 38,045 shares for approximately $4.25 million. Because the transactions were executed under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans and the executives retained substantial holdings, the sales are a modest negative signal rather than a clear change in management’s outlook.

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.