Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Stock

Key Points

• Barclays raised Cisco’s price target to $123 from $121 while maintaining an “equal weight” rating, implying 7.38% upside. The broader analyst consensus is “Moderate Buy,” with an average target of $127.76.
• Cisco reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, including $17.25 billion in revenue and $1.22 EPS, with revenue up 17.6% year over year. Management also issued optimistic fiscal 2027 guidance, supported by robust AI infrastructure demand.
• Despite the upbeat outlook, shares fell 7.5% to $114.55 as investors remained concerned about elevated valuation, squeezed margins, and a services-revenue miss following Cisco’s substantial rally.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) had its price objective increased by stock analysts at Barclays from $121.00 to $123.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "equal weight" rating on the network equipment provider's stock. Barclays's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 7.38% from the company's current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Cisco Systems from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Argus upped their target price on Cisco Systems from $100.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. CICC Research raised their price target on Cisco Systems from $96.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. New Street Research boosted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $82.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $116.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $127.76.

Cisco Systems Trading Down 7.5%

CSCO traded down $9.33 during trading on Thursday, hitting $114.55. 15,389,000 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 23,446,775. The firm has a market capitalization of $451.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.02. Cisco Systems has a 12-month low of $65.75 and a 12-month high of $130.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $117.56 and a 200 day moving average of $98.72.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) 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. The firm had revenue of $17.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.84 billion. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 20.14% and a return on equity of 28.44%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.99 earnings per share. 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 research analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems will post 3.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 6,586 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.31, for a total transaction of $772,603.66. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 177,223 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,790,030.13. This represents a 3.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 7,127 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.91, for a total transaction of $854,598.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 140,857 shares in the company, valued at $16,890,162.87. This trade represents a 4.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 47,650 shares of company stock worth $5,668,823 in the last three months. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cisco Systems

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CSCO. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Cisco Systems by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 398,943,293 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $30,730,602,000 after buying an additional 4,049,893 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the second quarter worth $42,129,647,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 195,521,161 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $15,060,995,000 after acquiring an additional 1,057,962 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Cisco Systems by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 75,326,258 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $5,802,382,000 after acquiring an additional 206,352 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Cisco Systems by 11.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 6,224,062 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Cisco Systems

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

• Positive Sentiment: Cisco reported fiscal Q4 revenue of approximately $17.3 billion, up 18% year over year, while non-GAAP EPS of $1.22 exceeded the $1.17 consensus estimate. Networking product orders increased 40%, and total product orders rose 35%. Cisco fiscal 2026 earnings release
• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure demand remains a major growth driver. Cisco received $4 billion of AI-related orders in Q4 and $9.3 billion for fiscal 2026, and expects AI infrastructure revenue to reach $7.5 billion in fiscal 2027. Cisco earnings call highlights
• Positive Sentiment: Management forecast Q1 fiscal 2027 revenue of $18.0 billion to $18.2 billion and non-GAAP EPS of $1.32 to $1.34. Full-year revenue guidance of $72.2 billion to $73.4 billion and EPS guidance of $5.05 to $5.11 also exceeded analyst expectations. Reuters Cisco outlook
• Positive Sentiment: KeyCorp and Morgan Stanley raised their price targets to $135 and maintained “overweight” ratings, while Rosenblatt lifted its target to $165 and upgraded the stock to “buy.” Analyst rating updates
• Neutral Sentiment: Cisco declared a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share, implying an annualized yield of roughly 1.4%. This supports shareholder returns but is unlikely to be the primary near-term trading catalyst.
• Negative Sentiment: The strong results and guidance failed to clear already-high investor expectations after CSCO’s substantial 2026 rally. Analysts also highlighted squeezed gross margins, creating concern that AI-related growth may come with lower profitability. MarketWatch margin concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Reports also pointed to a services-revenue miss, adding to concerns about the quality and sustainability of Cisco’s growth. With a P/E ratio near 40, investors are demanding continued acceleration, leaving limited room for disappointment. CNBC Cisco earnings coverage

About Cisco Systems

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

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