Cisco Systems, Inc. $CSCO Stake Lifted by Ethic Inc.

Ethic Inc. boosted its holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 3.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 565,451 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,754 shares during the period. Cisco Systems comprises about 0.7% of Ethic Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $60,859,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CSCO. StoneX Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. StoneX Group Inc. now owns 88,857 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $9,583,000 after buying an additional 5,341 shares during the last quarter. Ethos Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 7.6% in the third quarter. Ethos Capital Management Inc. now owns 27,389 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,948,000 after buying an additional 1,946 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its holdings in Cisco Systems by 9.9% during the third quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 8,514,823 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $916,289,000 after buying an additional 766,677 shares during the last quarter. Allen Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Cisco Systems by 3.7% during the third quarter. Allen Investment Management LLC now owns 15,743 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,694,000 after buying an additional 566 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verus Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Cisco Systems by 53.8% during the third quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 13,485 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,451,000 after acquiring an additional 4,716 shares in the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on CSCO. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 30th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted 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. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $132.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, HSBC cut shares of Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $137.00 to $120.00 in a report on Friday, August 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $127.87.

Key Stories Impacting Cisco Systems

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

• Positive Sentiment: Cisco was named a leader in ABI Research’s open line systems ranking for data-center interconnects, a market benefiting from AI-driven data-center expansion. Article: Ciena, Nokia, and Cisco Named Leaders in ABI Research’s Open Line Systems Ranking
• Positive Sentiment: New partner and cloud offerings—including AI-focused tools and expanded partner incentives—could support recurring software and services revenue. Separately, Spectrum Business introduced a managed Cisco secure-networking service aimed at AI-oriented enterprise workloads. Article: How Investors Are Reacting To Cisco Stock After Analyst Downgrade Article: Cisco Expands Into Managed Secure Networking
• Neutral Sentiment: Cisco’s Q3 earnings are scheduled for November 12. Options traders are pricing in a potentially substantial move around the report, making results and guidance a near-term catalyst. Article: Cisco Set for Near 11% Move After Q3 Earnings, Say Options Traders
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley cut Cisco from Overweight to Equal Weight and lowered its price target from $135 to $120. The firm warned that faster AI-infrastructure growth could worsen the sales mix and pressure gross margins, weighing on earnings growth in fiscal 2028. Article: Morgan Stanley Downgrades Cisco On AI Impacting Gross Margins
• Negative Sentiment: The downgrade coincided with broad selling in AI-infrastructure and networking stocks. Cisco’s shares also fell below their 200-day moving average, a technical signal that may add to investor caution. Article: Cisco Falls on Morgan Stanley Downgrade and AI Infrastructure Selloff Article: Cisco Stock Price Breaks Below 200-Day Moving Average

Cisco Systems Price Performance

NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $93.85 on Friday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a one year low of $70.54 and a one year high of $130.37. The company has a market cap of $370.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $108.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $101.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $17.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.84 billion. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 20.95% and a return on equity of 30.16%. The company’s revenue was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $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. Equities analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 4.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Investors of record on Friday, October 2nd were paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 2nd. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is 50.30%.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Thimaya Subaiya sold 5,832 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.47, for a total value of $650,093.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 128,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,310,741.54. This represents a 4.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Oliver Tuszik sold 2,760 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.46, for a total transaction of $310,389.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 165,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,586,938.96. This trade represents a 1.64% 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 44,869 shares of company stock worth $5,005,620. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Cisco Systems

Cisco Systems, Inc develops networking, cybersecurity, collaboration and observability technologies for businesses, governments and other organizations. Its products include routers, switches, wireless systems and data center infrastructure, along with security software and services that help organizations connect and protect their networks.

The company also provides collaboration tools through its Webex platform and observability capabilities through its software offerings, including technology from Splunk, which Cisco acquired in 2024.