Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Trading 4.6% Higher on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)’s share price rose 4.6% on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The company traded as high as $79.50 and last traded at $77.38. Approximately 56,843,611 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 171% from the average daily volume of 20,940,852 shares. The stock had previously closed at $73.96.

The network equipment provider reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.02. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 18.45% and a return on equity of 27.06%. The firm had revenue of $14.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.91 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Cisco Systems has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.080-4.140 EPS. Q2 2026 guidance at 1.010-1.030 EPS.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on CSCO. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays raised their price target on Cisco Systems from $71.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Cisco Systems from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Melius Research upped their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $84.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.32.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, insider Jeetendra I. Patel sold 9,061 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.60, for a total value of $603,462.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 237,405 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,811,173. This represents a 3.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 9,783 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.60, for a total transaction of $651,547.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 161,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,766,689.20. This trade represents a 5.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 82,965 shares of company stock worth $5,559,996. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cisco Systems

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CSCO. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Cisco Systems by 49.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 74,187 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $4,392,000 after buying an additional 24,562 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 37.0% during 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 last quarter. Sigma Planning Corp lifted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 5.6% in the first quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 39,954 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $2,466,000 after acquiring an additional 2,115 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 13.9% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 501,153 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $30,926,000 after purchasing an additional 60,984 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Cisco Systems by 24.8% during the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 27,736 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,712,000 after purchasing an additional 5,510 shares in the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.00. The company has a market capitalization of $304.93 billion, a PE ratio of 29.53, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $69.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.20.

Cisco Systems Company Profile

Cisco Systems, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells Internet Protocol based networking and other products related to the communications and information technology industry in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, Japan, and China. The company also offers switching portfolio encompasses campus switching as well as data center switching; enterprise routing portfolio interconnects public and private wireline and mobile networks, delivering highly secure, and reliable connectivity to campus, data center and branch networks; wireless products include wireless access points and controllers; and compute portfolio including the cisco unified computing system, hyperflex, and software management capabilities, which combine computing, networking, and storage infrastructure management and virtualization.