Lotus Technology Management LP Purchases Shares of 9,472 Cisco Systems, Inc. $CSCO

Lotus Technology Management LP purchased a new position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 9,472 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,113,000. Cisco Systems comprises 1.4% of Lotus Technology Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems during the second quarter worth about $42,129,647,000. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 195,521,161 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $15,060,995,000 after acquiring an additional 1,057,962 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 75,326,258 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $5,802,382,000 after acquiring an additional 206,352 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 6,224,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,473,272,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Key Cisco Systems News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Expanded NVIDIA and Supermicro partnership: Cisco is adding Supermicro (NASDAQ: SMCI) rack-scale AI servers to its NVIDIA-backed Secure AI Factory offering. The combined architecture pairs Cisco networking and security with high-performance computing, potentially helping Cisco capture more spending from hyperscalers, neoclouds, sovereign clouds and enterprise AI deployments. Cisco Expands Secure AI Factory with NVIDIA for the Rack-Scale Era
• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure demand is broadening: Cisco’s expanded offering is designed to address the power, cooling, security and data-control requirements of increasingly demanding AI workloads. The initiative may increase Cisco’s content per deployment and make its products more relevant as customers seek integrated, quickly deployable systems. Exclusive: Cisco expands Nvidia partnership for AI data center boom
• Positive Sentiment: Supportive analyst sentiment: Cisco’s average brokerage recommendation remains bullish, while recent coverage points to strong AI-related orders and upbeat fiscal 2027 infrastructure revenue guidance. This follows the company’s latest earnings beat and could reinforce confidence in its growth outlook. Wall Street Bulls Look Optimistic About Cisco
• Neutral Sentiment: New Canadian offering: Cisco launched sovereign critical-infrastructure solutions in Canada, giving governments and organizations more control over data and technology choices. The announcement supports Cisco’s public-sector and sovereign-cloud strategy, but near-term financial impact is unclear. Cisco Launches Sovereign Critical Infrastructure in Canada
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and execution risks: Cisco trades at a relatively elevated earnings multiple after its recent rally, and investors previously sold the stock despite strong results and guidance. Cisco also faces competition from NVIDIA, Supermicro and other AI-connectivity suppliers, which could limit margins or market share.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CSCO has been the subject of several research reports. KeyCorp raised their target price on Cisco Systems from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. New Street Research raised their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $82.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $116.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $95.00 to $96.00 in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.43.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Cisco Systems stock opened at $111.11 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $115.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $100.78. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $66.13 and a 52-week high of $130.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $437.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.02.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The network equipment provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.05. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 20.95% and a return on equity of 30.16%. The company had revenue of $17.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.99 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. As a group, analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 2nd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.30%.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In related news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 6,487 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.53, for a total transaction of $723,495.11. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 167,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,638,447.48. This trade represents a 3.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Oliver Tuszik sold 2,760 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.46, for a total value of $310,389.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 165,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,586,938.96. The trade was a 1.64% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 53,611 shares of company stock valued at $6,066,680. Insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

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.