Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Stock Price Up 1.8% Following Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Shares rose 1.8% after Evercore raised its price target to $110 and reiterated an "Outperform" rating, with the stock trading around $94.30 on lighter-than-average volume.
• Strategic catalysts include Cisco's acquisition of Israeli security firm Astrix Security and analysts' view that its Silicon One ASIC business is underappreciated, supporting potential revenue and margin upside.
• Insider and institutional activity: insiders sold 46,431 shares worth about $3.57M in the last three months, while institutional ownership is roughly 73.33%, including large new/increased positions by Norges Bank, Price T. Rowe and others.

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report)'s share price rose 1.8% during trading on Tuesday after Evercore raised their price target on the stock from $100.00 to $110.00. Evercore currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Cisco Systems traded as high as $94.72 and last traded at $94.30. Approximately 12,702,644 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 43% from the average daily volume of 22,113,119 shares. The stock had previously closed at $92.63.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on CSCO. Argus raised Cisco Systems to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen cut Cisco Systems from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th. Zacks Research cut Cisco Systems from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Cisco Systems in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $94.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Cisco Systems from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $90.29.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, insider Jeetendra I. Patel sold 11,248 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.00, for a total value of $854,848.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 262,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,970,976. This trade represents a 4.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 7,981 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.50, for a total value of $634,489.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 187,097 shares in the company, valued at $14,874,211.50. This represents a 4.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 46,431 shares of company stock worth $3,574,820. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Cisco Systems

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

• Positive Sentiment: Evercore raised its price target to $110 and reiterated an “Outperform” rating, citing upside from Silicon One and networking momentum — the upgrade gives investors a clear upside thesis and likely helped buying interest. Evercore price target raise
• Positive Sentiment: Cisco is acquiring Israeli security firm Astrix Security and is boosting security/compliance distribution (Qmulos added to its SolutionsPlus list), expanding its access/connectivity and compliance stack — these moves deepen Cisco’s security portfolio and simplify procurement for enterprise customers. Cisco security push Astrix acquisition
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts (Evercore coverage) argue Cisco’s Silicon One ASIC business is underappreciated and could be an overlooked driver of revenue and margin expansion over time — this supports a bullish structural view beyond near-term cycles. Silicon One analysis
• Neutral Sentiment: Cisco’s Universal Quantum Switch (room‑temperature device announced in April) is a high‑potential, long‑horizon technology development that could broaden Cisco’s role in future communications and AI networking, but commercialization and near‑term revenue impact are speculative. Universal Quantum Switch
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry/sector context: tech stocks were mixed in the session and partner/program updates (e.g., C1 achieving preferred status across Cisco 360 designations) signal healthy channel engagement but are incremental to Cisco’s top-line picture. Sector update C1 partner status

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CSCO. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth $4,473,272,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 51,363,281 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 103.2% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 29,289,151 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $2,256,144,000 after acquiring an additional 14,874,407 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 110.2% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 18,406,442 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $1,259,369,000 after acquiring an additional 9,648,265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 worth $3,876,219,000 after acquiring an additional 7,679,422 shares in the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 1.8%

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $81.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $372.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.92.

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

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

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