Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Stock Picked Up by Analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein

Equities research analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm set a “market perform” rating and a $110.00 price target on the network equipment provider’s stock. Sanford C. Bernstein’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 2.86% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $128.52.

Cisco Systems Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $106.94 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $112.21 and its 200 day moving average is $105.98. The stock has a market cap of $421.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.00. Cisco Systems has a 52-week low of $66.81 and a 52-week high of $130.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The network equipment provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%.Cisco Systems’s revenue was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $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. Sell-side analysts predict that Cisco Systems will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Oliver Tuszik sold 680 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.18, for a total value of $74,922.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 163,337 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,996,470.66. The trade was a 0.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Deborah Stahlkopf sold 6,487 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 167,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,638,447.48. This trade represents a 3.74% 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 44,869 shares of company stock worth $5,005,620. Insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cisco Systems

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the second quarter worth about $42,129,647,000. 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 purchasing an additional 51,363,281 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,892,379,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Cisco Systems during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $4,714,574,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in Cisco Systems during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,997,004,000. 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: Bell Canada and Cisco signed a memorandum of understanding to develop sovereign AI infrastructure for Canadian customers. The offering would combine Bell’s data centers, network and operating capabilities with Cisco’s AI, security, observability and infrastructure-management technologies, creating a potential new growth channel. Bell and Cisco to collaborate on sovereign AI infrastructure for Canada
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary highlights accelerating security growth and Cisco’s integrated security-and-observability strategy, suggesting the company may be gaining share against software-focused competitors such as Datadog and CrowdStrike. CSCO’s Security Growth Accelerates
• Positive Sentiment: Investor commentary points to approximately 18% growth and sustained AI demand, reinforcing the view that Cisco is benefiting from networking, software and AI infrastructure spending. Broader growth in edge computing could also expand Cisco’s addressable market. Steve Eisman says AI boom is for real
• Neutral Sentiment: After a roughly 62% 12-month advance, Cisco trades at about 32 times trailing earnings, above the S&P 500 average. Further appreciation may require AI and software growth to exceed expectations rather than simply meet them. What Could Surprise Cisco Stock Investors On The Upside?
• Negative Sentiment: AI-related optimism faces potential threats from price competition involving lower-cost Chinese and open-weight AI models. Separately, a Cisco survey showing thousands of daily operational alerts highlights a customer pain point, but does not yet represent booked platform revenue, limiting its immediate earnings impact. Steve Eisman on Cisco AI growth and price-war risks

About Cisco Systems

Cisco Systems, Inc is a global technology company that develops networking, cybersecurity, collaboration, observability and data center solutions. Its products and services help businesses, governments, educational institutions and other organizations connect users and devices, manage infrastructure, protect digital environments and support cloud-based operations.

Cisco’s portfolio includes routers and switches, wireless networking equipment, network management software, firewalls, identity and access tools, endpoint security products, collaboration applications and observability platforms.