Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Sunday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $132.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $132.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $135.00 target price for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $128.52.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of CSCO stock opened at $115.07 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $453.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.93. Cisco Systems has a one year low of $66.81 and a one year high of $130.37. The company’s 50-day moving average is $112.04 and its 200 day moving average is $108.45.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The network equipment provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $17.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.99 earnings per share. The business’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. Sell-side analysts expect that Cisco Systems will post 4.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis 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%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Oliver Tuszik sold 2,760 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.46, for a total value of $310,389.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 165,276 shares in the company, valued at $18,586,938.96. This represents a 1.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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 firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.57, for a total value of $799,956.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 230,593 shares in the company, valued at $25,727,261.01. This trade represents a 3.02% 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 valued at $5,005,620. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cozad Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 0.3% in the first quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 26,203 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,033,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Cisco Systems by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,413 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $283,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Green Ridge Wealth Planning LLC increased its holdings in Cisco Systems by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Green Ridge Wealth Planning LLC now owns 6,017 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $648,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. August Group Capital Ltd raised its position in Cisco Systems by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. August Group Capital Ltd now owns 4,723 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $555,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Insights Inc. raised its position in Cisco Systems by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Financial Insights Inc. now owns 6,220 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $483,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cisco Systems News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: AI networking partnership strengthens growth prospects. Cisco and NVIDIA introduced a new ultra-dense pluggable optics design supporting 400Gb/s-per-lane electrical signals and up to 12.8Tb/s of capacity. The technology is intended to help AI data centers connect large GPU clusters while improving bandwidth density and power efficiency. NVIDIA and Cisco Introduce New Pluggable Optics Form Factor to Scale AI Factories
• Positive Sentiment: Open infrastructure announcements support Cisco’s competitive positioning. At the OCP 2026 summit, Cisco highlighted new silicon, systems and optical products for distributed AI networks, including plans with NVIDIA for an open next-generation optics specification. The announcements reinforce Cisco’s focus on Ethernet-based AI infrastructure and customer choice. Cisco Advances Scalability and Openness at OCP 2026
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor attention remains unusually high. Recent analysis points to a 68% annual gain driven by AI infrastructure orders, networking demand and security growth. Analysts tracked by Quiver Quantitative have a median price target of $130, suggesting continued upside but also more limited room for disappointment at current valuation levels. Should You Buy, Sell, or Hold Cisco Stock After a 68% Rise in a Year?
• Negative Sentiment: Profit-taking and insider selling weigh on sentiment. Commentary attributes recent weakness primarily to valuation concerns and traders locking in gains after the sharp advance, rather than to a new earnings shock. Quiver data also shows 49 reported insider sales and no purchases over the past six months, including sales by senior executives. Mixed institutional positioning and concerns that AI-driven growth could be nearing a peak add to the caution. Why Cisco Systems Stock Is Down

Cisco Systems Company Profile

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.