Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Stock Price Down 2.2% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) dropped 2.2% on Thursday. The stock traded as low as $103.58 and last traded at $104.89. Approximately 17,067,098 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 23% from the average daily volume of 22,106,855 shares. The stock had previously closed at $107.26.

Key Stories Impacting Cisco Systems

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

• Positive Sentiment: Cisco unveiled high-density AI networking products, including Silicon One G302 switches and a planned 400Gb/s-per-lane optical module developed with NVIDIA, TE Connectivity and Amphenol. Expanded SONiC support and AI-operations security tools strengthen the company’s effort to capture spending across networking hardware, silicon, optics and software. Did AI Networking Expansion Just Shift Cisco’s Investment Narrative?
• Positive Sentiment: Longer-term bullish commentary argues that Cisco can benefit from continued AI data-center investment and from software that helps customers monitor AI usage and control rising model-inference costs. Cisco: Can It Profit From Helping Customers Spend Less on AI?
• Neutral Sentiment: ETF funds were net sellers of CSCO on October 20, adding a technical source of pressure that does not necessarily reflect a change in Cisco’s operating outlook. ETFs Are Net Sellers of Cisco
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts continue to debate whether Cisco’s AI opportunity represents a durable shift from its traditional enterprise networking business. Comparisons with Arista Networks highlight the importance of execution, data-center design wins and margins. Arista Networks Versus Cisco Systems
• Negative Sentiment: The latest decline reflects Cisco falling more than the broader market, while commentary from Seeking Alpha characterized the stock’s AI narrative as overbought and maintained a Hold view. At a price-to-earnings ratio above 31, investors may be demanding substantial AI growth before awarding the shares a higher valuation. Here’s Why Cisco Systems Fell More Than the Broader Market

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays raised their price target on Cisco Systems from $121.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, August 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $135.00 price target for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $128.52.

Cisco Systems Trading Down 2.2%

The stock has a market capitalization of $413.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $110.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $109.88.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 12th. The network equipment provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.05. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 30.16% and a net margin of 20.95%. The company had revenue of $17.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.99 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. 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, research analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 4.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Investors of record on Friday, October 2nd were given 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 yield of 1.6%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Deborah Stahlkopf sold 6,487 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.53, for a total value of $723,495.11. Following the transaction, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Jeetendra Patel sold 7,170 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.57, for a total value of $799,956.90. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 230,593 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,727,261.01. The trade was a 3.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 44,869 shares of company stock valued at $5,005,620 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CSCO. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems in the second quarter worth about $42,129,647,000. State Street Corp raised its position 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 worth $25,278,492,000 after buying an additional 13,512,872 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Cisco Systems during the second quarter valued at $5,892,379,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 43,450,141 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,103,654,000 after buying an additional 1,143,106 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,714,574,000. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.