William Blair Raises Earnings Estimates for Cisco Systems

Key Points

• William Blair raised their FY2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimate for Cisco Systems from $3.42 to $3.44 and projected FY2027 earnings at $3.63.
• Cisco reported earnings of $0.99 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations, with revenue of $14.67 billion, up 7.6% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.41, with a payout date on October 22nd, reflecting a dividend yield of 2.5%.

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO - Free Report) - William Blair increased their FY2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Cisco Systems in a report released on Thursday, September 4th. William Blair analyst S. Naji now anticipates that the network equipment provider will post earnings of $3.44 per share for the year, up from their previous forecast of $3.42. William Blair currently has a "Hold" rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Cisco Systems' current full-year earnings is $3.04 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Cisco Systems' FY2027 earnings at $3.63 EPS.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 13th. The network equipment provider reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.01. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 18.45% and a return on equity of 27.06%. The business had revenue of $14.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.63 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.87 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Cisco Systems has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.970-0.990 EPS. FY 2026 guidance at 4.000-4.060 EPS.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on CSCO. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $87.00 target price on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $77.00 price objective on the stock. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Cisco Systems from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Cisco Systems has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $74.53.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of CSCO stock opened at $66.90 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $264.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.53, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.99. Cisco Systems has a 52-week low of $47.85 and a 52-week high of $72.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company's 50 day moving average is $68.44 and its 200 day moving average is $63.88.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 3rd will be issued a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 3rd. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Cisco Systems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.60%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 7,511 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.84, for a total value of $502,035.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 161,467 shares in the company, valued at $10,792,454.28. This trade represents a 4.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jeetendra I. Patel sold 9,061 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.60, for a total value of $603,462.60. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 237,405 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,811,173. This trade represents a 3.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 89,311 shares of company stock valued at $5,916,823. 0.01% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cisco Systems

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bare Financial Services Inc lifted its position in Cisco Systems by 531.0% during the second quarter. Bare Financial Services Inc now owns 366 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the period. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 89.4% in the 2nd quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 409 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the period. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, JDM Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 160.4% in the fourth quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 487 shares of the network equipment provider's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cisco Systems Company Profile

Cisco Systems, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells Internet Protocol based networking and other products related to the communications and information technology industry in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, Japan, and China. The company also offers switching portfolio encompasses campus switching as well as data center switching; enterprise routing portfolio interconnects public and private wireline and mobile networks, delivering highly secure, and reliable connectivity to campus, data center and branch networks; wireless products include wireless access points and controllers; and compute portfolio including the cisco unified computing system, hyperflex, and software management capabilities, which combine computing, networking, and storage infrastructure management and virtualization.

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