Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Rating Lowered to "Hold" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Cisco from “Buy” to “Hold.” Morgan Stanley also cut its rating to “Equal Weight” and lowered its price target to $120, citing potential gross-margin pressure from AI infrastructure sales; overall, analysts still rate the stock “Moderate Buy,” with a $127.87 average target.
• Cisco beat quarterly expectations, reporting EPS of $1.22 versus $1.17 expected and revenue of $17.25 billion versus $16.84 billion; revenue rose 17.6% year over year.
• Upcoming earnings are a near-term catalyst: Cisco is scheduled to report Q3 results on November 12, with options pricing in a potentially substantial share move. AI-related data-center demand and new networking offerings may support growth, while margin concerns and recent share weakness weigh on sentiment.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

CSCO has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Cisco Systems from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $135.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Thursday. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $135.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Cisco Systems currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $127.87.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

CSCO opened at $93.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $370.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.69, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.01. Cisco Systems has a 1-year low of $70.54 and a 1-year high of $130.37. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $108.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $101.63.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The network equipment provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.05. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 30.16% and a net margin of 20.95%. The business had revenue of $17.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.99 earnings per share. The business's revenue 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. Equities analysts forecast that Cisco Systems will post 4.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Oliver Tuszik sold 680 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of 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 available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 6,487 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 167,116 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,638,447.48. This 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 44,869 shares of company stock valued at $5,005,620. 0.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cisco Systems

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,129,647,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the second quarter valued at $5,892,379,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,714,574,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in Cisco Systems during the second quarter worth approximately $1,997,004,000. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 207,106,569 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $25,278,492,000 after purchasing an additional 13,512,872 shares during the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More Cisco Systems News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Cisco was named a leader in ABI Research’s open line systems ranking for data-center interconnects, a market benefiting from AI-driven data-center expansion. Article: Ciena, Nokia, and Cisco Named Leaders in ABI Research’s Open Line Systems Ranking
• Positive Sentiment: New partner and cloud offerings—including AI-focused tools and expanded partner incentives—could support recurring software and services revenue. Separately, Spectrum Business introduced a managed Cisco secure-networking service aimed at AI-oriented enterprise workloads. Article: How Investors Are Reacting To Cisco Stock After Analyst Downgrade Article: Cisco Expands Into Managed Secure Networking
• Neutral Sentiment: Cisco’s Q3 earnings are scheduled for November 12. Options traders are pricing in a potentially substantial move around the report, making results and guidance a near-term catalyst. Article: Cisco Set for Near 11% Move After Q3 Earnings, Say Options Traders
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley cut Cisco from Overweight to Equal Weight and lowered its price target from $135 to $120. The firm warned that faster AI-infrastructure growth could worsen the sales mix and pressure gross margins, weighing on earnings growth in fiscal 2028. Article: Morgan Stanley Downgrades Cisco On AI Impacting Gross Margins
• Negative Sentiment: The downgrade coincided with broad selling in AI-infrastructure and networking stocks. Cisco’s shares also fell below their 200-day moving average, a technical signal that may add to investor caution. Article: Cisco Falls on Morgan Stanley Downgrade and AI Infrastructure Selloff Article: Cisco Stock Price Breaks Below 200-Day Moving Average

Cisco Systems Company Profile

Cisco Systems, Inc develops networking, cybersecurity, collaboration and observability technologies for businesses, governments and other organizations. Its products include routers, switches, wireless systems and data center infrastructure, along with security software and services that help organizations connect and protect their networks.

The company also provides collaboration tools through its Webex platform and observability capabilities through its software offerings, including technology from Splunk, which Cisco acquired in 2024.

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