Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Trading Up 5.1% – Here’s Why

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)’s stock price rose 5.1% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $121.90 and last traded at $121.74. 24,894,104 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 5% from the average session volume of 23,643,037 shares. The stock had previously closed at $115.86.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore increased their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $110.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $95.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Cisco Systems from $95.00 to $96.00 in a report on Monday, May 11th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Cisco Systems from $90.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.14.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $479.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $117.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $96.39.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The network equipment provider reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.03. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 28.44% and a net margin of 20.14%.The company had revenue of $15.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.56 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.96 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. Cisco Systems has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 1.160-1.180 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 4.270-4.290 EPS. Analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 6th were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 6th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jeetendra I. Patel sold 7,169 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.28, for a total value of $840,780.32. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 246,737 shares in the company, valued at $28,937,315.36. This represents a 2.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 6,586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.31, for a total transaction of $772,603.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 177,223 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,790,030.13. The trade was a 3.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 47,650 shares of company stock worth $5,668,823. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cisco Systems

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CSCO. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Cisco Systems by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 398,943,293 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $30,730,602,000 after purchasing an additional 4,049,893 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 195,521,161 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $15,060,995,000 after buying an additional 1,057,962 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 75,326,258 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $5,802,382,000 after buying an additional 206,352 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 59,836,782 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $4,609,227,000 after buying an additional 6,224,062 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth about $4,473,272,000. Institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

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.