Legal & General Group Plc Purchases 2,535,716 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. $CSCO

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in Cisco by 7.2%, buying 2,535,716 shares to hold 37,674,954 shares worth about $2.58 billion, making CSCO its 20th-largest position.
• Cisco beat expectations with Q results of $1.04 EPS vs. $1.02 expected and $15.35B revenue (up 9.7% YoY), and the company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.42 (annualized $1.68, ~2.2% yield).
• Analysts are generally constructive — MarketBeat shows a consensus "Moderate Buy" with a $89.55 target, and several firms (e.g., Morgan Stanley, Evercore, HSBC) have recently raised price targets or upgraded ratings.

Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,674,954 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 2,535,716 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems comprises about 0.6% of Legal & General Group Plc's portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.96% of Cisco Systems worth $2,577,720,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in CSCO. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Cisco Systems by 1.4% during the third quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,449 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $715,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY raised 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 buying an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Yoder Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Yoder Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,945 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $270,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Weaver Consulting Group boosted its stake in Cisco Systems by 1.5% in the third quarter. Weaver Consulting Group now owns 9,940 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $680,000 after buying an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wynn Capital LLC grew its position in Cisco Systems by 0.3% in the third quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 48,456 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $3,315,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. HSBC boosted their target price on Cisco Systems from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Zacks Research raised shares of Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $82.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Evercore raised shares of Cisco Systems from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Citic Securities raised their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $75.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $89.55.

More Cisco Systems News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Cisco’s “Secure AI Factory” deal puts sovereign and on‑prem AI deployments squarely in Cisco’s addressable market — a strategic win that could lift software and services revenue and support higher long‑term growth expectations. Cisco Secure AI Factory Deal Puts Sovereign AI At Center For Cisco Investors
• Positive Sentiment: Broader cybersecurity market growth (analysts expect the sector to roughly double by 2030) creates a favorable demand backdrop for Cisco’s security portfolio, even as specialist vendors (e.g., CrowdStrike) compete for wallet share. This is a tailwind for Cisco’s software/security revenue mix. The Cybersecurity Market Is Set to Double to $300 Billion by 2030. Here's the Best Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stock to Buy Now.
• Positive Sentiment: With bond yields shifting, dividend‑oriented flows may favor large, reliable dividend payers like Cisco — a structural buyer base that can support the share price despite near‑term volatility. Bond Yields Are Getting Slashed — These Dividend Stocks Are the Smarter Play Right Now
• Neutral Sentiment: Some Wall Street analysts remain optimistic on CSCO, which can provide episodic support to the stock — but analyst commentary alone may not overcome investor concerns about execution and margin trade‑offs. Wall Street Bulls Look Optimistic About Cisco (CSCO): Should You Buy?
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest data published today appears to be a reporting anomaly (shows zero change), so there’s no clear evidence of rising short pressure driving the move. Monitor for corrected data. (internal short‑interest release)
• Negative Sentiment: A recent analysis highlights that Cisco’s investment push into AI and software raises margin risk — investors are debating whether growth gains will offset near‑term margin compression and valuation pressure if operating leverage lags expectations. How The Cisco Systems (CSCO) Investment Story Is Shifting On Growth Hopes And Margin Risks

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of CSCO stock opened at $76.21 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $301.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.74, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The business's 50-day moving average price is $77.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.25. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12 month low of $52.11 and a 12 month high of $88.18.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $15.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.11 billion. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 27.88% and a net margin of 19.22%.The firm's revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.94 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current 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 given a $0.42 dividend. This is an increase from Cisco Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio is currently 57.54%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jeetendra I. Patel sold 11,248 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.00, for a total value of $854,848.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 262,776 shares in the company, valued at $19,970,976. This represents a 4.10% 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, Director Kristina M. Johnson sold 13,481 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.13, for a total value of $1,039,789.53. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 61,630 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,753,521.90. This represents a 17.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 75,677 shares of company stock valued at $5,811,211. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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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