Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Hits New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $90.00 to $95.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Cisco Systems traded as high as $85.30 and last traded at $85.28, with a volume of 1181240 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $84.82.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on CSCO. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $82.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. HSBC increased their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Evercore upped their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $100.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Melius Research raised their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $84.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upped their price objective on Cisco Systems from $76.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.45.

Insider Activity

In other Cisco Systems news, Director Kristina M. Johnson sold 13,481 shares of Cisco Systems 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 61,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,753,521.90. The trade was a 17.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 116,734 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.30, for a total value of $9,023,538.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 704,153 shares in the company, valued at $54,431,026.90. The trade was a 14.22% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,044,865 shares of company stock valued at $81,397,635. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CSCO. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in Cisco Systems by 1.1% in the second quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 420,336 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $29,163,000 after acquiring an additional 4,525 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 6.9% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 3,189,645 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $218,236,000 after purchasing an additional 205,043 shares during the period. Greystone Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Cisco Systems in the third quarter valued at about $8,563,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 8.9% during the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 686,469 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $46,165,000 after buying an additional 56,057 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Drive Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,605 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,152,000 after buying an additional 436 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Up 1.0%

The company has a market cap of $338.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $77.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $72.65.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 12th. The network equipment provider reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.02. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 27.29% and a net margin of 18.38%.The company had revenue of $14.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.91 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Cisco Systems has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.080-4.140 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 1.010-1.030 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Friday, January 2nd were paid a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is 61.65%.

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.