Cwm LLC Increases Stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. $CSCO

Key Points

• Cwm LLC boosted its stake in Cisco by 6.9% in Q4, adding 85,415 shares to own 1,329,980 shares valued at about $102.45 million per its 13F filing.
• Cisco reported a beat (Q: $1.04 EPS on $15.35B revenue) and is seeing an AI‑networking tailwind that helped raise full‑year EPS guidance, but investor sentiment is mixed due to the $28B Splunk deal adding debt and free‑cash‑flow concerns alongside analyst downgrades.
• Insiders sold 46,431 shares in the quarter (CEO Charles Robbins sold 19,545 shares), and Cisco raised its quarterly dividend to $0.42 (annualized $1.68, ~2.0% yield).

Cwm LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 6.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,329,980 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 85,415 shares during the period. Cwm LLC's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $102,448,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Northstar Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Northstar Advisory Group LLC now owns 8,203 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $632,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 15,917 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $1,183,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. Green Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Green Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 12,349 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $951,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the period. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,449 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $715,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. Finally, Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY now owns 24,622 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $1,685,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cisco Systems News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks and others highlight an AI networking surge driving material top‑line momentum; Zacks says AI‑driven networking contributed to substantial revenue growth and helps justify further upside as infrastructure and wireless demand shift in Cisco’s favor. Cisco's AI Networking Surge Gathers Momentum
• Positive Sentiment: Bullish analysis on Seeking Alpha notes AI infrastructure orders (including hyperscaler demand) and disciplined OPEX helped Cisco raise full‑year EPS guidance after the quarter, supporting the investment case despite margin pressure from memory costs. Cisco Remains A Buy As AI Tailwinds Broaden
• Neutral Sentiment: Cisco is reportedly in talks to buy Israeli cybersecurity startup Astrix for roughly $250–$350M to bolster AI‑agent security monitoring — a strategic tuck‑in that strengthens Cisco’s security stack but is not a material spend relative to its balance sheet. M&A News: Cisco in Talks to Acquire Astrix
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation pieces note a strong 1‑year share run (up ~47% over 1 year) and ask whether current levels are fair; these analyses are weighing momentum versus stretched gains. Is Cisco Systems Fairly Priced?
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks downgraded Cisco from "strong‑buy" to "hold," removing some buy‑side conviction and likely prompting short‑term selling pressure. Zacks Downgrades Cisco
• Negative Sentiment: Bear case from Seeking Alpha flags the $28B Splunk deal for materially increasing debt, compressing free cash flow versus pre‑Splunk levels, and limiting dividend upside — a structural FCF concern investors are reacting to. AI Top-Line Boom Can't Hide Free Cash Flow Problem

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In other news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 19,545 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.00, for a total transaction of $1,485,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 671,095 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $51,003,220. The trade was a 2.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 7,981 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.50, for a total transaction of $634,489.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 187,097 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,874,211.50. The trade was a 4.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 46,431 shares of company stock valued at $3,574,820. 0.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Cisco Systems Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of CSCO opened at $82.36 on Thursday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $79.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.48. The stock has a market cap of $325.31 billion, a PE ratio of 28.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.83. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12 month low of $53.83 and a 12 month high of $88.18. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $15.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.11 billion. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 27.88% and a net margin of 19.22%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.94 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 2nd. 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 2.0%. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio is presently 58.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CSCO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered shares of Cisco Systems from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday. BNP Paribas Exane increased their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Cisco Systems to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $82.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $89.76.

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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