Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Up 1.5% - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Cisco shares rose 1.5% to $106.50, though trading volume was about 40% below average. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $128.52.
• Cisco reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.22 versus a $1.17 estimate and revenue of $17.25 billion, up 17.6% year over year.
• The company pays a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share, equal to a $1.68 annualized payout and 1.6% yield; institutional investors own 73.33% of the stock, while insiders have recently sold shares under pre-arranged trading plans.

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) shares were up 1.5% on Friday. The stock traded as high as $106.96 and last traded at $106.50. Approximately 13,282,069 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 40% from the average session volume of 22,056,041 shares. The stock had previously closed at $104.89.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on CSCO shares. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Cisco Systems in a report on Wednesday, September 30th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $110.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $132.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Cisco Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, October 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $128.52.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $110.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $109.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market cap of $419.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.99.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 12th. The network equipment provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $17.25 billion during 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%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $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. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 4.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Shareholders 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 1.6%. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 6,487 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.53, for a total value of $723,495.11. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 167,116 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,638,447.48. The trade was a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 312 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.18, for a total value of $34,376.16. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 127,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,065,688.98. This represents a 0.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 44,869 shares of company stock worth $5,005,620 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cisco Systems

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the second quarter valued at approximately $42,129,647,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Cisco Systems in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,892,379,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Cisco Systems in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $4,714,574,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in Cisco Systems in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,997,004,000. Finally, State Street Corp boosted 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. Institutional investors own 73.33% of the company's stock.

Cisco Systems Company Profile

Cisco Systems, Inc is a global technology company that develops networking, cybersecurity, collaboration and observability solutions for businesses, government organizations and service providers. Its offerings include routers, switches, wireless networking equipment, data-center infrastructure, security software and services, as well as technologies that support cloud and hybrid IT environments.

The company also provides collaboration tools through its Webex portfolio, cloud-managed networking through Cisco Meraki and security and observability capabilities that include technologies from Splunk, which Cisco acquired in 2024.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.