KBC Group NV Sells 456,955 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. $CSCO

Key Points

• KBC Group NV cut its stake in Cisco by 22.3%, selling 456,955 shares in Q4 and now holds 1,587,746 shares valued at about $122.3 million.
• Cisco posted an earnings beat (EPS $1.04 vs. $1.02; revenue $15.35B, +9.7% YoY) and analysts cite AI‑networking momentum and several upgrades, leaving a consensus "Moderate Buy" with a $89.76 target.
• Cisco raised its quarterly dividend to $0.42 (2.0% yield), while insiders have been net sellers—CEO Charles Robbins sold 19,545 shares and insiders sold 46,431 shares in the last quarter.

KBC Group NV reduced its holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 22.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,587,746 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after selling 456,955 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV's holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $122,304,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Cisco Systems by 96.2% in the third quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 408 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC lifted its position in Cisco Systems by 115.7% during the third quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 468 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Holos Integrated Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company's stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ CSCO opened at $82.36 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $325.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.90, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.83. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a one year low of $53.83 and a one year high of $88.18. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $79.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $76.48. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The network equipment provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.94 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd will be paid a $0.42 dividend. This is a boost from Cisco Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 2nd. Cisco Systems's payout ratio is presently 58.95%.

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 dated Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.00, for a total value of $1,485,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 671,095 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $51,003,220. The trade was a 2.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 1,744 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.07, for a total value of $134,410.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 156,693 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,076,329.51. This represents a 1.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 46,431 shares of company stock valued at $3,574,820. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Cisco Systems

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

CSCO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Argus raised shares of Cisco Systems to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. They set a "buy" rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. Evercore upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $80.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, January 26th. BNP Paribas Exane increased their target price on Cisco Systems from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Cisco Systems from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cisco Systems currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $89.76.

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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