Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Trading Down 2% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) fell 2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $109.71 and last traded at $109.93. 13,014,016 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 44% from the average daily volume of 23,298,945 shares. The stock had previously closed at $112.15.

Cisco Systems News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Cisco launched a Sovereign Critical Infrastructure portfolio in Canada and expanded its Secure AI Factory with NVIDIA and Supermicro. The offerings target enterprises, neocloud providers and sovereign-cloud customers seeking integrated AI compute, cooling and networking infrastructure. Cisco Unveils Sovereign and AI Infrastructure Offerings
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley maintained a $135 price target, citing Cisco’s potential supply advantage through TSMC as shortages continue to affect the AI infrastructure market. This supports the view that Cisco may be positioned to benefit from strong AI networking demand. Morgan Stanley Reveals Cisco’s Supply Edge
• Positive Sentiment: Cisco’s NVIDIA partnership is also linked to the industry’s shift toward liquid-cooled, high-density AI systems, potentially expanding the company’s role in the broader AI infrastructure buildout. NVIDIA’s AI Chips and Liquid Cooling
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts comparing Cisco with Hewlett Packard Enterprise highlighted Cisco’s strong hyperscaler AI orders, networking growth and expanding security business as long-term competitive advantages. HPE vs. CSCO
• Neutral Sentiment: Cisco gave all approximately 90,000 employees access to personal AI agents, demonstrating broad internal adoption of AI, though the immediate financial impact is unclear. Cisco Gives Employees AI Agents
• Negative Sentiment: A growth-stock analysis questioned whether Cisco can sustain enough growth to support its premium valuation, reviving concerns that enthusiasm surrounding AI networking may have outpaced underlying fundamentals. With a P/E ratio above 30, the stock may be particularly sensitive to any slowdown in growth expectations. Growth Stock Analysis

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America raised their price target on Cisco Systems from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Cisco Systems from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $132.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Cisco Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.43.

Cisco Systems Stock Down 2.0%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $433.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $115.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $101.18.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The network equipment provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $17.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.84 billion. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 20.95% and a return on equity of 30.16%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.99 EPS. 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, equities analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 2nd. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.30%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cisco Systems news, insider Jeetendra I. Patel sold 7,170 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.57, for a total transaction of $799,956.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 230,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,727,261.01. This represents a 3.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 company’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 165,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,586,938.96. The trade was a 1.64% 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. Insiders have sold 53,611 shares of company stock worth $6,066,680 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cisco Systems

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CSCO. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Intesa Sanpaolo Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Networth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 276.4% during the 1st quarter. Networth Advisors LLC now owns 335 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 137.0% in the 1st quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 346 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.