Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Upgraded by HSBC to Buy Rating

HSBC upgraded shares of Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Friday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has $137.00 target price on the network equipment provider’s stock, up from their prior target price of $77.00.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on CSCO. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Friday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Cisco Systems from $75.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Cisco Systems from $91.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. New Street Research upped their price objective on Cisco Systems from $82.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $114.55.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $118.21 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $466.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.38, a PEG ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Cisco Systems has a 1 year low of $62.30 and a 1 year high of $119.36. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $85.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $79.95.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The network equipment provider reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $15.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.56 billion. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 28.44% and a net margin of 20.14%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.96 earnings per share. Cisco Systems has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 1.160-1.180 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 4.270-4.290 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Cisco Systems will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, July 6th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 6th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.55%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 7,981 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.50, for a total transaction of $634,489.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 187,097 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,874,211.50. This represents a 4.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 551 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.54, for a total value of $42,724.54. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 27,957 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,167,785.78. The trade was a 1.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 15,587 shares of company stock worth $1,230,765. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cisco Systems

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new position in Cisco Systems during the first quarter valued at approximately $6,200,000. SummitTX Capital L.P. boosted its stake in Cisco Systems by 55.0% during the first quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. now owns 347,994 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $27,001,000 after buying an additional 123,463 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 35.2% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 809,191 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $62,785,000 after purchasing an additional 210,469 shares during the last quarter. Family Manage LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 14.7% in the 1st quarter. Family Manage LLC now owns 11,348 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $880,000 after purchasing an additional 1,453 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gateway Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 304.9% in the 1st quarter. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC now owns 33,721 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,616,000 after purchasing an additional 25,393 shares during the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Cisco Systems

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

• Positive Sentiment: Cisco reported stronger-than-expected Q3 earnings and revenue, with EPS of $1.06 topping estimates and sales of $15.84 billion above forecasts. Article title
• Positive Sentiment: The company raised full-year guidance and pointed to roughly $9 billion in fiscal 2026 hyperscaler AI infrastructure orders, reinforcing the view that Cisco is becoming a key AI infrastructure beneficiary. Article title
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple firms raised price targets after the earnings beat, including HSBC, Evercore, Piper Sandler, KeyCorp, Morgan Stanley, UBS, BNP Paribas, Wells Fargo and Citigroup, signaling broad Wall Street optimism. Article title
• Positive Sentiment: Cisco’s CEO said AI will force a “multi-billion dollar infrastructure reset,” which supports the bullish narrative that the company is at the center of a long upgrade cycle. Article title
• Neutral Sentiment: Cisco also announced plans to cut about 4,000 jobs as it reshapes spending toward AI, which may improve efficiency but adds some execution risk. Article title
• Neutral Sentiment: Some commentary warns that the stock’s rapid rally has pushed valuation higher, and options activity shows elevated volatility expectations heading into the next phase. Article title

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.