Fisher Funds Management LTD Lowers Stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. $CSCO

Key Points

• Fisher Funds Management LTD trimmed its stake in Cisco by 4.2% in Q4, selling 17,890 shares and finishing the quarter with 409,822 shares worth about $31.7 million.
• Cisco beat Q2 estimates (EPS $1.04 vs $1.02) and cited an AI-driven networking surge (~21% revenue growth), prompting analyst upgrades and higher targets (JPMorgan raised its target to $96; consensus target roughly $89.81).
• Risks include the $28B Splunk acquisition that materially increased debt and compressed free cash flow, and recent insider selling (46,431 shares in three months), which could limit near-term cash-flow recovery and valuation upside.

Fisher Funds Management LTD lowered its stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 409,822 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after selling 17,890 shares during the quarter. Fisher Funds Management LTD's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $31,665,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CSCO. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 110.2% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 18,406,442 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $1,259,369,000 after buying an additional 9,648,265 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 19.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 33,748,414 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $2,309,066,000 after buying an additional 5,498,375 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 53,612,720 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $3,668,182,000 after buying an additional 5,081,469 shares in the last quarter. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter valued at $233,956,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 37,674,954 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $2,577,720,000 after buying an additional 2,535,716 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Cisco Systems

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

• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its price target to $96 and kept an "overweight" rating, signaling analyst conviction and upward earnings/valuation expectations for CSCO. JPMorgan price target raise
• Positive Sentiment: Q2 FY26 results and commentary point to an AI-driven networking surge (reported ~21% revenue growth), supporting the view that infrastructure spend is strengthening. Cisco's AI networking surge
• Positive Sentiment: Reports say Cisco is in advanced talks to buy Astrix Security, which would expand Cisco's AI-agent security and subscription-software strategy if completed. Cisco Astrix talks
• Positive Sentiment: Partner ecosystem momentum: Endace announced integrations with many security platforms, including Cisco XDR, underscoring sustained enterprise demand for packet capture and Cisco security tooling. Endace partner program
• Neutral Sentiment: Sector note — Ciena's large rally on AI/cloud demand shows strong investor appetite for networking/infra names, which can lift interest in Cisco as a larger peer. Ciena surge
• Neutral Sentiment: Market coverage: a Zacks roundup noted CSCO has outperformed recently, reflecting the same positive drivers above but not adding new fundamental data. Zacks market roundup
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks downgraded Cisco from "strong-buy" to "hold," which could temper momentum from upgrades if other shops follow. Zacks downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: A Seeking Alpha piece warns that the $28B Splunk deal tripled Cisco's debt and compressed free cash flow, arguing valuation risks and limited dividend upside until FCF recovers. Seeking Alpha FCF analysis
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst/market caution pieces note that growth can be volatile in networking names and stress the need to monitor margin and cash-flow recovery post-M&A. Growth stock caution

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 7,981 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.50, for a total value of $634,489.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 2,179 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.74, for a total transaction of $169,395.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 28,807 shares in the company, valued at $2,239,456.18. The trade was a 7.03% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 46,431 shares of company stock valued at $3,574,820. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on CSCO shares. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. CICC Research lifted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $84.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. President Capital decreased their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $90.00 to $88.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 24th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Three 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $89.81.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $84.50 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $333.77 billion, a PE ratio of 29.65, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.83. The company's fifty day moving average is $79.83 and its 200 day moving average is $76.54. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52 week low of $53.83 and a 52 week high of $88.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The network equipment provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.02. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 19.22% and a return on equity of 27.88%. The firm had revenue of $15.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.94 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd will be given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 2nd. This is a positive change 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%.

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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