46,678 Shares in Cisco Systems, Inc. $CSCO Purchased by North Star Asset Management Inc.

North Star Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 46,678 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,483,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of CSCO. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Cisco Systems during the second quarter worth about $6,442,000. World Investment Advisors raised its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 15.4% in the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 198,549 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $13,905,000 after purchasing an additional 26,455 shares during the period. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 101.8% during the 4th quarter. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 107,306 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $8,266,000 after buying an additional 54,141 shares in the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. boosted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 47.1% in the 4th quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 200,341 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $15,432,000 after buying an additional 64,144 shares during the period. Finally, ABN AMRO Bank N.V. bought a new position in Cisco Systems in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $19,114,000. 73.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Cisco Systems

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley maintained a $135 price target and cited Cisco’s potential supply advantage through TSMC amid shortages affecting the AI infrastructure industry. The endorsement suggests analysts see room for further appreciation from current levels. Morgan Stanley keeps Cisco at $135 on TSMC supply edge
• Positive Sentiment: AI networking demand remains a key catalyst. Reports point to strong hyperscaler orders, networking growth, and Cisco’s expanding security portfolio as advantages over Hewlett Packard Enterprise for long-term investors. HPE vs. CSCO: Which Stock Has an Edge in the Networking Space?
• Positive Sentiment: Cisco is expanding its partnership with NVIDIA around AI infrastructure and liquid-cooling systems, positioning the company to benefit as data centers adopt higher-density AI computing. Its Secure AI Factory initiative also embeds cybersecurity into AI deployments, potentially supporting software and security growth. Nvidia’s AI Chips Are Making Liquid Cooling the New Standard as Cisco Expands Its AI Bet Cisco Expands Secure AI Factory
• Positive Sentiment: Cisco’s move into rack-scale compute through a Supermicro-related AI infrastructure partnership could increase its share of AI buildout spending beyond traditional networking hardware. Cisco just broke its biggest hardware rule to chase the AI boom
• Neutral Sentiment: Cisco gave all 90,000 employees access to personal AI agents, demonstrating internal AI adoption and potentially improving productivity, though the near-term financial impact is unclear. Cisco Gave All 90,000 Employees Their Own AI Agent
• Negative Sentiment: A customer success story describes Spicer Group replacing its Cisco-based networking stack with open-source VyOS across 13 sites. While only one customer example, it highlights the competitive risk from lower-cost, flexible alternatives. VyOS Powers Spicer Group’s Cisco-to-Open-Source Network Transformation

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CSCO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $100.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th. HSBC lowered Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $137.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Cisco Systems from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cisco Systems presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.43.

Cisco Systems Stock Down 0.2%

CSCO stock opened at $112.15 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $115.41 and its 200 day moving average is $101.18. 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 stock has a market cap of $442.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.02. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1-year low of $66.13 and a 1-year high of $130.37.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 12th. The network equipment provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.05. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 20.95% and a return on equity of 30.16%. The company had revenue of $17.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.99 EPS. The firm’s 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. Sell-side analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid 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 dividend yield of 1.5%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.30%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Oliver Tuszik sold 2,760 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.46, for a total value of $310,389.60. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Jeetendra I. Patel sold 7,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The shares were 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 $25,727,261.01. This trade represents a 3.02% 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. Insiders sold a total of 53,611 shares of company stock valued at $6,066,680 over the last three months. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Cisco Systems 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.