Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Stock Rated "Market Perform" in New Coverage at Sanford C. Bernstein

Key Points

• Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage of Cisco with a “Market Perform” rating and a $110 price target, implying only 2.86% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with Cisco carrying a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $128.52, despite mixed recent recommendations from firms including HSBC, Barclays and Zacks.
• Cisco recently exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.22 in EPS and $17.25 billion in revenue, with revenue up 17.6% year over year. The company is also seeing continued interest in its AI, security and networking businesses, though valuation and AI-related price competition remain risks.

Research analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage set a "market perform" rating and a $110.00 price target on the network equipment provider's stock. Sanford C. Bernstein's price target suggests a potential upside of 2.86% from the company's previous close.

CSCO has been the subject of a number of other reports. HSBC lowered Cisco Systems from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $137.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Barclays increased their target price on Cisco Systems from $121.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" 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 report on Sunday, August 16th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $128.52.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

CSCO stock opened at $106.94 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.93. The company's fifty day moving average price is $112.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $105.98. Cisco Systems has a one year low of $66.81 and a one year high of $130.37. The company has a market capitalization of $421.62 billion, a PE ratio of 32.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.00.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 20.95% and a return on equity of 30.16%. The company had revenue of $17.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.99 EPS. Cisco Systems'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. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, insider Jeetendra I. Patel sold 7,170 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.57, for a total transaction of $799,956.90. Following the transaction, the insider owned 230,593 shares in the company, valued at $25,727,261.01. The trade was a 3.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 21,628 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.54, for a total transaction of $2,412,387.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 602,710 shares of the company's stock, valued at $67,226,273.40. This trade represents a 3.46% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 44,869 shares of company stock worth $5,005,620 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Cisco Systems

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CSCO. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,129,647,000. State Street Corp grew its position in Cisco Systems by 7.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 13,512,872 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Cisco Systems by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 59,836,782 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $4,609,227,000 after purchasing an additional 6,224,062 shares during the period. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 8,718.3% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 18.0% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 50,320,905 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $3,876,219,000 after purchasing an additional 7,679,422 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.33% of the company's stock.

Trending Headlines about Cisco Systems

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

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.

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