Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Analyst consensus: Twenty-five brokerages give Cisco an average rating of "Moderate Buy" (14 buy, 8 hold, 3 strong buy) with a mean 12‑month price target of $90.29.
• Quarterly performance and dividend: Cisco beat estimates with EPS of $1.04 versus $1.02 and revenue of $15.35B (up 9.7% YoY) and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.42 (1.8% yield).
• Ownership and insider activity: Insiders sold 46,431 shares worth $3.57M in the last quarter (insider ownership 0.01%), while institutional investors own 73.33% of the stock—Vanguard alone holds ~399M shares.

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) has been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the twenty-five brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $90.2857.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Cisco Systems from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Cisco Systems to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane increased their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 1,744 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.07, for a total value of $134,410.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 156,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,076,329.51. This trade represents a 1.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 7,981 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.50, for a total transaction of $634,489.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 187,097 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,874,211.50. This trade represents a 4.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 46,431 shares of company stock valued at $3,574,820. 0.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cisco Systems

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 worth $30,730,602,000 after acquiring an additional 4,049,893 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings 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 period. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 75,326,258 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $5,802,382,000 after acquiring an additional 206,352 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 59,836,782 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $4,609,227,000 after acquiring an additional 6,224,062 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth $4,473,272,000. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cisco Systems News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Evercore raised its price target to $110 and kept an "outperform" rating, giving an analyst-driven upside case that supports upside if Cisco continues to execute. Evercore raises CSCO price target
• Positive Sentiment: Cisco is expanding security capabilities via the planned acquisition of Astrix Security and by adding Qmulos to its SolutionsPlus program — moves that strengthen recurring-software/compliance revenue and deepen integrations (including with Splunk). These are clear strategic drivers for revenue mix improvement. Cisco to acquire Astrix Security Cisco security push with Astrix and Qmulos
• Positive Sentiment: Product innovation: coverage highlights Cisco's Universal Quantum Switch as a potential long‑term differentiator for AI networking/security — a thematic positive for investors focused on future growth vectors. Universal Quantum Switch article
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst previews (Seeking Alpha, Zacks) point to an earnings beat setup and margin focus heading into the quarter — if Cisco delivers stronger margins/revenue guidance, the stock could recover. Q3 earnings preview Zacks earnings outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: Long-term investor pieces revisit how a decade‑long hold in Cisco would have performed and Wall Street's bullish consensus — useful context but unlikely to move price near-term. 10-year return piece Is it worth investing based on Wall Street views?
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction: multiple reports note CSCO underperformed peers and is trading down despite broader market gains — suggests profit-taking/rotation and short-term selling pressure outweigh positive news. MarketWatch underperformance note Zacks notes CSCO dropped despite market gains

Cisco Systems Trading Down 2.9%

Shares of NASDAQ CSCO opened at $91.54 on Thursday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $82.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.40. Cisco Systems has a fifty-two week low of $59.07 and a fifty-two week high of $94.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $361.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The network equipment provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.02. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 19.22% and a return on equity of 27.88%. The business had revenue of $15.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. Cisco Systems's revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Cisco Systems will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd were issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. This is a boost from Cisco Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 2nd. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.95%.

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.

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