Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-four ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $129.4286.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on CSCO shares. CICC Research upped their price target on Cisco Systems from $96.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. HSBC downgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $137.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. BNP Paribas Exane increased their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $87.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th.

Cisco Systems Stock Down 0.9%

Cisco Systems stock opened at $110.55 on Friday. Cisco Systems has a 1-year low of $66.13 and a 1-year high of $130.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market cap of $435.73 billion, a PE ratio of 33.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.02. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $116.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $99.94.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 12th. The network equipment provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.05. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 30.16% and a net margin of 20.95%.The business had revenue of $17.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.99 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue 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, sell-side analysts expect that Cisco Systems will post 4.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 2nd. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is 50.30%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 6,487 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.53, for a total value of $723,495.11. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 167,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,638,447.48. This represents a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 21,628 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.54, for a total transaction of $2,412,387.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 602,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,226,273.40. This trade represents a 3.46% decrease in their position. 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 69,179 shares of company stock worth $7,985,229. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cisco Systems

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CSCO. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,129,647,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at $4,473,272,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 8,718.3% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 51,952,421 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $400,190,000 after buying an additional 51,363,281 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems during the second quarter worth $5,892,379,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems during the second quarter valued at $4,714,574,000. 73.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Cisco Systems

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

• Positive Sentiment: Cisco reported approximately $17.3 billion in quarterly revenue, up 18% year over year, and adjusted EPS of $1.22, exceeding the $1.17 consensus estimate. Management’s fiscal 2027 outlook was also optimistic, reinforcing expectations for continued growth. Strong AI Infrastructure Orders Drive Confidence in Cisco Systems
• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure demand remains a major growth driver. Cisco recorded $4 billion of AI infrastructure orders in the latest quarter, $9.3 billion for fiscal 2026, and expects $7.5 billion of AI infrastructure revenue in fiscal 2027. Bank of America reiterated its Buy rating and $150 price target, indicating substantial potential upside if execution continues. BofA makes bold call on Cisco stock after earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts questioned how sustainable the AI-led growth surge will be and whether Cisco can convert strong orders into durable, profitable recurring revenue. A recent Freedom Capital upgrade to Strong Buy provides a counterpoint to the more cautious views. What Kept Coming Up When Analysts Grilled CSCO
• Negative Sentiment: Gross-margin pressure was the key earnings concern. Margins fell to about 66.3% and are expected to remain around 65%–66% in the next quarter, partly because of higher memory costs, hardware pricing, and an unfavorable product mix. Soft recurring growth and a premium valuation have led some analysts to recommend holding the stock despite strong revenue growth. Cisco: Buy The AI Pullback, But Watch The Margin Pressure
• Negative Sentiment: HSBC downgraded Cisco to Hold, while CEO Charles Robbins and other executives disclosed share sales. The transactions were conducted under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans, making them a modest negative signal rather than clear evidence of deteriorating management confidence.

Cisco Systems Company 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.