Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Hits New 12-Month High - Still a Buy?

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $94.72 and last traded at $94.30, with a volume of 13410039 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $92.63.

Cisco Systems News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Evercore raised its price target on Cisco to $110 and kept an "outperform" rating, signaling analyst confidence in upside tied to Cisco’s product mix (about a 17% implied upside from recent levels). Evercore price target raise
• Positive Sentiment: Cisco announced plans to acquire Israeli cybersecurity firm Astrix Security, expanding its access/connectivity security capabilities — a move that should accelerate product-led sales and M&A synergy messaging. Cisco to acquire Israeli co Astrix Security
• Positive Sentiment: Cisco is pushing security momentum by adding Qmulos to its SolutionsPlus program and integrating compliance analytics with its broader security portfolio (and deeper Splunk ties), which simplifies procurement and upsell opportunities to enterprise customers. Cisco Security Push With Astrix And Qmulos
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts (Evercore coverage) argue Cisco’s Silicon One ASIC business is underappreciated and could be a multi‑year growth driver for routing and AI networking — supportive for longer‑term revenue and margin upside. Silicon One underappreciated
• Positive Sentiment: Longer‑term tech roadmap: Cisco highlighted a Universal Quantum Switch for routing quantum information over standard fiber — a strategic signal that Cisco is positioning for future, high‑value networking platforms. Universal Quantum Switch
• Neutral Sentiment: Partner ecosystem news: C1 earned full Preferred status across Cisco 360 designations — positive for channel execution but incremental vs. the larger company story. C1 Preferred Partner status
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader market context: tech stocks were mixed in recent sessions; some industry earnings (Microchip, Gen Digital, News Corp, BlackBerry) are being watched by investors but are not directly tied to Cisco’s fundamentals. Tech stocks mixed

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore lifted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Friday, April 24th. CICC Research lifted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $84.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, HSBC lifted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $90.29.

Cisco Systems Stock Up 1.8%

The firm has a market cap of $372.47 billion, a PE ratio of 33.09, a PEG ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.92. The business's 50 day moving average price is $81.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.24. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The network equipment provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $15.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.11 billion. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 19.22% and a return on equity of 27.88%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.94 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This is an increase from Cisco Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 2nd. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio is presently 58.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In other news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 1,744 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.07, for a total transaction of $134,410.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 156,693 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,076,329.51. The trade was a 1.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 19,545 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.00, for a total transaction of $1,485,420.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 671,095 shares of the company's stock, valued at $51,003,220. This represents a 2.83% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 46,431 shares of company stock valued at $3,574,820. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Cisco Systems

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CSCO. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,473,272,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its stake in Cisco Systems by 8,718.3% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 51,952,421 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $400,190,000 after acquiring an additional 51,363,281 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 103.2% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 29,289,151 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $2,256,144,000 after purchasing an additional 14,874,407 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 110.2% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 18,406,442 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $1,259,369,000 after purchasing an additional 9,648,265 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 18.0% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 50,320,905 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $3,876,219,000 after buying an additional 7,679,422 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company's stock.

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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