Franklin Resources Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. $CSCO

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 4.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 42,641,483 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,804,625 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems comprises about 0.7% of Franklin Resources Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 1.08% of Cisco Systems worth $2,917,530,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CSCO. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,816,825,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its position in Cisco Systems by 413.3% in the second quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 22,393,371 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,553,645,000 after purchasing an additional 18,030,441 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Cisco Systems by 6,778.2% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,810,012 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $472,479,000 after purchasing an additional 6,711,004 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Cisco Systems by 1.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 393,989,568 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $27,334,996,000 after purchasing an additional 5,039,714 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 7.2% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 37,674,954 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $2,577,720,000 after buying an additional 2,535,716 shares during the period. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. CICC Research boosted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $84.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Cisco Systems from $70.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Citic Securities lifted their target price on Cisco Systems from $75.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Monday, November 17th. President Capital cut their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $90.00 to $88.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 24th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $71.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.55.

Cisco Systems News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Cisco announced a strategic push into sovereign/secure AI with its “Secure AI Factory” partnership and related deals, reinforcing its positioning in AI infrastructure and security — a catalyst for revenue and enterprise spending momentum. Cisco Secure AI Factory Deal Puts Sovereign AI At Center For Cisco Investors
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street commentary and retail interest are upbeat: recent analyst coverage and Zacks/market write-ups are drawing investor attention and supporting sentiment around Cisco’s growth story. Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO) is Attracting Investor Attention: Here is What You Should Know
• Neutral Sentiment: Media pieces highlight the broader cybersecurity and AI networking opportunity, which benefits Cisco indirectly, but they also spotlight pure-play competitors — this is industry-positive but mixed for incumbents. The Cybersecurity Market Is Set to Double to $300 Billion by 2030
• Neutral Sentiment: Short interest reports posted anomalous data (zeros and NaN increases) — this looks like a reporting glitch rather than a true surge in shorting activity, so it’s not a clear driver of price action. (Entries dated 3/9–3/10.)
• Neutral Sentiment: Arista’s strong AI-driven networking gains and HPE’s growing networking profitability highlight rising competition and market shifts in enterprise networking — these are industry signals investors should watch for relative share wins/losses. ANET Rises 73.3% in a Year: How Should You Play the Stock? Networking now 30% of HPE revenue but over half of profits
• Negative Sentiment: An analysis piece warns that Cisco’s investment story is shifting — growth hopes are improving but margin pressures and execution risk could weigh on forward profitability if costs rise or product mix changes unfavorably. How The Cisco Systems (CSCO) Investment Story Is Shifting On Growth Hopes And Margin Risks

Cisco Systems Trading Up 2.0%

NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $77.70 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $306.91 billion, a PE ratio of 27.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.87. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $77.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.33. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $52.11 and a 12-month high of $88.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The network equipment provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $15.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.11 billion. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 27.88% and a net margin of 19.22%.Cisco Systems’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 2nd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.54%.

Insider Activity

In other Cisco Systems news, insider Jeetendra I. Patel sold 11,248 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.00, for a total transaction of $854,848.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 262,776 shares in the company, valued at $19,970,976. The trade was a 4.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Michael D. Capellas sold 10,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.13, for a total transaction of $836,860.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 146,368 shares in the company, valued at $11,289,363.84. The trade was a 6.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 75,677 shares of company stock valued at $5,811,211. 0.01% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.