Atwood & Palmer Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. $CSCO

Key Points

• Atwood & Palmer reduced its Cisco position by 1.9% in the third quarter, selling 9,657 shares and retaining 496,925 shares valued at approximately $53.5 million. Cisco remains the fund’s eighth-largest holding and represents about 2.8% of its portfolio.
• Cisco reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with earnings of $1.22 per share and revenue of $17.25 billion, up 17.6% year over year. AI infrastructure demand and new agentic AI collaboration products are viewed as important growth catalysts, though competition and execution risks remain.
• Shares recently traded at $114.89, while analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $128.52. Cisco also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share, equating to a 1.5% annualized yield.

Atwood & Palmer Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 496,925 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after selling 9,657 shares during the period. Cisco Systems makes up approximately 2.8% of Atwood & Palmer Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Atwood & Palmer Inc.'s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $53,487,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Titleist Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Cisco Systems by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. Titleist Asset Management LLC now owns 5,205 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $560,000 after purchasing an additional 503 shares during the last quarter. Apella Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 35,109 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $3,779,000 after purchasing an additional 3,695 shares during the period. Everhart Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Cisco Systems by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 40,042 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $4,443,000 after purchasing an additional 1,524 shares during the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 78,842 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $8,983,000 after purchasing an additional 4,873 shares during the period. Finally, Veracity Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 9,408 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $1,013,000 after purchasing an additional 1,131 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.33% of the company's stock.

Key Cisco Systems News

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

• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure demand remains a key catalyst. Cisco is reportedly seeing substantial AI infrastructure orders and has delivered its fifth consecutive earnings beat, supporting the view that networking demand could propel the company into a new growth phase. Cisco Could Be Entering a New Growth Phase
• Positive Sentiment: New agentic AI products expand Cisco’s growth story. At WebexOne 2026, Cisco introduced AI capabilities across Webex, workplace management and customer experience, including Claude-powered agents that can analyze data, create content and execute tasks using enterprise context. A Google Meet partnership for Cisco devices and RoomOS 27 are also intended to strengthen its collaboration business. Cisco Unveils New Agentic Collaboration Experiences
• Positive Sentiment: Channel and security developments add incremental support. Supermicro servers are entering Cisco’s AI Factory channel, potentially broadening the company’s AI infrastructure reach, while Cisco also added a FIPS-validated post-quantum security application. Cisco Stock and Supermicro AI Factory Channel
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation is limiting enthusiasm. Analysts see further upside if AI orders translate into durable revenue and profit growth, but the recent rally may already reflect much of that opportunity, leaving less room for error. The Case for Waiting on Cisco Stock
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned about execution and competitive pressure. Cisco must demonstrate that AI demand can produce sustained growth without margin deterioration, while competition from networking specialists such as Arista adds uncertainty to the broader AI networking opportunity.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

Cisco Systems stock traded down $2.50 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $114.89. 12,955,367 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,499,215. The company has a market capitalization of $452.96 billion, a PE ratio of 34.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a fifty day moving average of $112.11 and a 200 day moving average of $107.43. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1-year low of $66.81 and a 1-year high of $130.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The network equipment provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $17.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.84 billion. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 20.95% and a return on equity of 30.16%. The firm'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 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. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 2nd. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio is currently 50.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on CSCO. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Wednesday, September 30th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $110.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Cisco Systems from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. HSBC downgraded Cisco Systems from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $137.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Freedom Capital raised Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Sunday, August 16th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Cisco Systems from $132.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $128.52.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In related news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 21,628 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.54, for a total transaction of $2,412,387.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 602,710 shares in the company, valued at $67,226,273.40. This represents a 3.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 6,487 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.53, for a total value of $723,495.11. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 167,116 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,638,447.48. This represents a 3.74% 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 quarter, insiders have sold 44,869 shares of company stock valued at $5,005,620. Insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.

About Cisco Systems

Cisco Systems, Inc is a global technology company that develops networking, cybersecurity, collaboration, observability and data center solutions. Its products and services help businesses, governments, educational institutions and other organizations connect users and devices, manage infrastructure, protect digital environments and support cloud-based operations.

Cisco's portfolio includes routers and switches, wireless networking equipment, network management software, firewalls, identity and access tools, endpoint security products, collaboration applications and observability platforms.

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.