Ancora Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. $CSCO

Key Points

• Ancora Advisors cut its Cisco position by 8.8% in the second quarter, selling 10,082 shares and retaining 103,962 shares valued at approximately $12.2 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 73.33% of Cisco.
• Cisco reported a quarterly earnings beat, with EPS of $1.22 and revenue of $17.25 billion, up 17.6% year over year. The company is also expanding its NVIDIA partnership to offer Supermicro rack-scale AI servers, supporting its growth in AI infrastructure.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with Cisco holding a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $129.43. However, the stock’s elevated valuation, competitive pressures and recent insider sales present potential risks.

Ancora Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 8.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 103,962 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after selling 10,082 shares during the period. Ancora Advisors LLC's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $12,211,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. PDT Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the second quarter valued at approximately $799,000. Palisade Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Cisco Systems by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. Palisade Capital Management LP now owns 10,606 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $1,246,000 after acquiring an additional 712 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in Cisco Systems by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,149,133 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $244,564,000 after acquiring an additional 100,899 shares during the last quarter. Veratis Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 2nd quarter worth $845,000. Finally, Verity Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 5.7% during the second quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,655 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $664,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cisco Systems News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Expanded NVIDIA and Supermicro partnership: Cisco is adding Supermicro NASDAQ: SMCI rack-scale AI servers to its NVIDIA-backed Secure AI Factory offering. The combined architecture pairs Cisco networking and security with high-performance computing, potentially helping Cisco capture more spending from hyperscalers, neoclouds, sovereign clouds and enterprise AI deployments. Cisco Expands Secure AI Factory with NVIDIA for the Rack-Scale Era
• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure demand is broadening: Cisco’s expanded offering is designed to address the power, cooling, security and data-control requirements of increasingly demanding AI workloads. The initiative may increase Cisco’s content per deployment and make its products more relevant as customers seek integrated, quickly deployable systems. Exclusive: Cisco expands Nvidia partnership for AI data center boom
• Positive Sentiment: Supportive analyst sentiment: Cisco’s average brokerage recommendation remains bullish, while recent coverage points to strong AI-related orders and upbeat fiscal 2027 infrastructure revenue guidance. This follows the company’s latest earnings beat and could reinforce confidence in its growth outlook. Wall Street Bulls Look Optimistic About Cisco
• Neutral Sentiment: New Canadian offering: Cisco launched sovereign critical-infrastructure solutions in Canada, giving governments and organizations more control over data and technology choices. The announcement supports Cisco’s public-sector and sovereign-cloud strategy, but near-term financial impact is unclear. Cisco Launches Sovereign Critical Infrastructure in Canada
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and execution risks: Cisco trades at a relatively elevated earnings multiple after its recent rally, and investors previously sold the stock despite strong results and guidance. Cisco also faces competition from NVIDIA, Supermicro and other AI-connectivity suppliers, which could limit margins or market share.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CSCO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Weiss Ratings raised Cisco Systems from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Evercore lifted their price target on Cisco Systems from $110.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $86.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Cisco Systems currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $129.43.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Cisco Systems stock opened at $111.11 on Wednesday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $115.65 and its 200-day moving average is $100.78. The company has a market cap of $437.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12 month low of $66.13 and a 12 month high of $130.37.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The network equipment provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $17.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.84 billion. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 30.16% and a net margin of 20.95%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.99 EPS. 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 analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 2nd will be paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 2nd. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.30%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 7,127 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.91, for a total transaction of $854,598.57. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 140,857 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,890,162.87. This represents a 4.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 21,628 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.54, for a total value 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 approximately $67,226,273.40. This represents a 3.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 53,611 shares of company stock worth $6,066,680. 0.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Cisco Systems Profile

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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