Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Down 1.7% – Should You Sell?

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)’s stock price dropped 1.7% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $120.12 and last traded at $120.43. 16,268,120 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 31% from the average session volume of 23,407,471 shares. The stock had previously closed at $122.57.

Cisco Systems News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Cisco reported record fiscal Q4 revenue of approximately $17.3 billion, up 18% year over year, while non-GAAP EPS of $1.22 surpassed the $1.17 consensus estimate. Networking revenue and product orders were strong, supported by AI infrastructure, data-center switching and campus demand. Cisco’s Q4 Earnings Beat Estimates, Strong Networking Aids Revenues
• Positive Sentiment: Management forecast fiscal 2027 revenue of $72.2 billion to $73.4 billion and non-GAAP EPS of $5.05 to $5.11, above Wall Street expectations. Cisco also expects $7.5 billion of AI infrastructure revenue in fiscal 2027, following $9.3 billion of AI orders in fiscal 2026. Cisco Reports Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2026 Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts raised their price targets after the report, including Wells Fargo to $150, Rosenblatt to $165 and Truist to $140, indicating that longer-term analysts remain constructive on Cisco’s AI networking opportunity.
• Neutral Sentiment: Cisco declared a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share, payable October 21 to shareholders of record October 2. The dividend provides ongoing income support but was not the primary market catalyst.
• Negative Sentiment: The earnings beat failed to clear an exceptionally high investor bar after CSCO’s strong 2026 rally. Analysts described the outlook as potentially conservative relative to current demand, while investors questioned how long AI-related growth can accelerate at the required pace. Cisco shares slide despite earnings beat and stronger-than-expected guidance
• Negative Sentiment: Gross-margin concerns weighed on the stock. Cisco’s AI networking expansion may pressure profitability through product mix, pricing and investment requirements; reports also cited weaker-than-expected services revenue. These concerns are particularly important given CSCO’s elevated valuation.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on CSCO shares. Truist Financial increased their target price on Cisco Systems from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Cisco Systems from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Citic Securities upped their price target on Cisco Systems from $90.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $100.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane boosted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $87.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.95.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $117.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $98.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $445.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.81, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.02.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 12th. The network equipment provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.05. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 28.44% and a net margin of 20.14%.The business had revenue of $17.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.99 EPS. 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. As a group, research analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.54 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 2nd. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.55%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Oliver Tuszik sold 2,607 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.12, for a total value of $315,759.84. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 172,727 shares in the company, valued at $20,920,694.24. This trade represents a 1.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Jeetendra I. Patel sold 7,169 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.28, for a total transaction of $840,780.32. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 246,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,937,315.36. The trade was a 2.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 47,650 shares of company stock worth $5,668,823. 0.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cisco Systems

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 398,943,293 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $30,730,602,000 after purchasing an additional 4,049,893 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems in the second quarter worth about $42,129,647,000. State Street Corp grew its position in Cisco Systems by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 195,521,161 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $15,060,995,000 after buying an additional 1,057,962 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Cisco Systems by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 75,326,258 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,802,382,000 after buying an additional 206,352 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Cisco Systems by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 59,836,782 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,609,227,000 after buying an additional 6,224,062 shares during the period. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cisco Systems Company Profile

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.