Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Trading Up 1.1% – Should You Buy?

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)’s stock price rose 1.1% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $112.95 and last traded at $112.36. Approximately 10,200,888 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 56% from the average daily volume of 23,421,094 shares. The stock had previously closed at $111.11.

Key Stories Impacting Cisco Systems

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley maintained a $135 price target and cited Cisco’s potential supply advantage through TSMC amid shortages affecting the AI infrastructure industry. The endorsement suggests analysts see room for further appreciation from current levels. Morgan Stanley keeps Cisco at $135 on TSMC supply edge
• Positive Sentiment: AI networking demand remains a key catalyst. Reports point to strong hyperscaler orders, networking growth, and Cisco’s expanding security portfolio as advantages over Hewlett Packard Enterprise for long-term investors. HPE vs. CSCO: Which Stock Has an Edge in the Networking Space?
• Positive Sentiment: Cisco is expanding its partnership with NVIDIA around AI infrastructure and liquid-cooling systems, positioning the company to benefit as data centers adopt higher-density AI computing. Its Secure AI Factory initiative also embeds cybersecurity into AI deployments, potentially supporting software and security growth. Nvidia’s AI Chips Are Making Liquid Cooling the New Standard as Cisco Expands Its AI Bet Cisco Expands Secure AI Factory
• Positive Sentiment: Cisco’s move into rack-scale compute through a Supermicro-related AI infrastructure partnership could increase its share of AI buildout spending beyond traditional networking hardware. Cisco just broke its biggest hardware rule to chase the AI boom
• Neutral Sentiment: Cisco gave all 90,000 employees access to personal AI agents, demonstrating internal AI adoption and potentially improving productivity, though the near-term financial impact is unclear. Cisco Gave All 90,000 Employees Their Own AI Agent
• Negative Sentiment: A customer success story describes Spicer Group replacing its Cisco-based networking stack with open-source VyOS across 13 sites. While only one customer example, it highlights the competitive risk from lower-cost, flexible alternatives. VyOS Powers Spicer Group’s Cisco-to-Open-Source Network Transformation

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CSCO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America raised their price target on Cisco Systems from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Piper Sandler upped 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. Barclays increased their target price on Cisco Systems from $121.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, New Street Research upped their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $82.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.43.

Cisco Systems Stock Down 0.2%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $115.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $101.18. The company has a market capitalization of $442.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.58, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.02.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 12th. The network equipment provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $17.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.84 billion. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 30.16% and a net margin of 20.95%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company 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. As a group, equities analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Investors of record on Friday, October 2nd will be given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 2nd. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.30%.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 6,487 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.53, for a total transaction of $723,495.11. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 167,116 shares in the company, valued at $18,638,447.48. The trade was a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Jeetendra I. Patel sold 7,170 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.57, for a total transaction of $799,956.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 230,593 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,727,261.01. This represents a 3.02% 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. Insiders sold 53,611 shares of company stock valued at $6,066,680 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cisco Systems

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 49.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 74,187 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $4,392,000 after purchasing an additional 24,562 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 2,474 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 712 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. increased its stake in Cisco Systems by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 13,974 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $969,000 after buying an additional 519 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 590,650 shares in the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.