Cisco Systems, Inc. $CSCO Stock: Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC Lowers Holdings

Key Points

• Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors cut its Cisco stake by 12.3% in the third quarter, selling 44,203 shares and ending the period with 315,479 shares valued at about $34 million.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of Cisco shares; several large firms, including State Street and UBS, increased their positions, while others established new stakes.
• Market outlook is mixed: Cisco was recognized for its data-center networking technology, but Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock and warned AI-related sales mix could pressure margins. The upcoming earnings report is a near-term catalyst.

Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 12.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 315,479 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after selling 44,203 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems comprises approximately 1.4% of Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $33,955,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Cisco Systems in the 2nd quarter worth $42,129,647,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in Cisco Systems by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 207,106,569 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $25,278,492,000 after purchasing an additional 13,512,872 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,892,379,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Cisco Systems by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 43,450,141 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $5,103,654,000 after purchasing an additional 1,143,106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the second quarter valued at about $4,714,574,000. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Cisco Systems

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

• Positive Sentiment: Cisco was named a leader in ABI Research’s open line systems ranking for data-center interconnects, a market benefiting from AI-driven data-center expansion. Article: Ciena, Nokia, and Cisco Named Leaders in ABI Research’s Open Line Systems Ranking
• Positive Sentiment: New partner and cloud offerings—including AI-focused tools and expanded partner incentives—could support recurring software and services revenue. Separately, Spectrum Business introduced a managed Cisco secure-networking service aimed at AI-oriented enterprise workloads. Article: How Investors Are Reacting To Cisco Stock After Analyst Downgrade Article: Cisco Expands Into Managed Secure Networking
• Neutral Sentiment: Cisco’s Q3 earnings are scheduled for November 12. Options traders are pricing in a potentially substantial move around the report, making results and guidance a near-term catalyst. Article: Cisco Set for Near 11% Move After Q3 Earnings, Say Options Traders
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley cut Cisco from Overweight to Equal Weight and lowered its price target from $135 to $120. The firm warned that faster AI-infrastructure growth could worsen the sales mix and pressure gross margins, weighing on earnings growth in fiscal 2028. Article: Morgan Stanley Downgrades Cisco On AI Impacting Gross Margins
• Negative Sentiment: The downgrade coincided with broad selling in AI-infrastructure and networking stocks. Cisco’s shares also fell below their 200-day moving average, a technical signal that may add to investor caution. Article: Cisco Falls on Morgan Stanley Downgrade and AI Infrastructure Selloff Article: Cisco Stock Price Breaks Below 200-Day Moving Average

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ CSCO opened at $93.85 on Monday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1 year low of $70.54 and a 1 year high of $130.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $370.01 billion, a PE ratio of 28.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a fifty day moving average of $108.82 and a 200 day moving average of $101.63.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The network equipment provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $17.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.84 billion. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 30.16% and a net margin of 20.95%. Cisco Systems's revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.99 earnings per share. 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. Research analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 4.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 2nd. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.30%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 5,832 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.47, for a total transaction of $650,093.04. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 128,382 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,310,741.54. This represents a 4.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Jeetendra I. Patel sold 7,170 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.57, for a total transaction of $799,956.90. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 230,593 shares in the company, valued at $25,727,261.01. This trade represents a 3.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 44,869 shares of company stock worth $5,005,620. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CSCO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Cisco Systems from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Barclays upped their target price on Cisco Systems from $121.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Morgan Stanley lowered Cisco Systems from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $135.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Thursday. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $132.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Finally, Freedom Capital raised shares of Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, August 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cisco Systems has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $127.87.

Cisco Systems Profile

Cisco Systems, Inc develops networking, cybersecurity, collaboration and observability technologies for businesses, governments and other organizations. Its products include routers, switches, wireless systems and data center infrastructure, along with security software and services that help organizations connect and protect their networks.

The company also provides collaboration tools through its Webex platform and observability capabilities through its software offerings, including technology from Splunk, which Cisco acquired in 2024.

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