Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Acquires 159,777 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. $CSCO

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 5.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,297,324 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 159,777 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems makes up approximately 0.7% of Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $387,304,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cozad Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 26,203 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,033,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 3.9% in the second quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,413 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $283,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. August Group Capital Ltd boosted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. August Group Capital Ltd now owns 4,723 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $555,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Financial Insights Inc. lifted its position in Cisco Systems by 1.5% during the first quarter. Financial Insights Inc. now owns 6,220 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $483,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CPA Asset Management Group LLC grew its position in Cisco Systems by 1.8% in the second quarter. CPA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 5,335 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $627,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jeetendra I. Patel sold 7,170 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $25,727,261.01. This represents a 3.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.54, for a total value of $2,412,387.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 602,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,226,273.40. This trade represents a 3.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 53,611 shares of company stock valued at $6,066,680. 0.01% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

More Cisco Systems News

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

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

CSCO opened at $109.93 on Friday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $66.13 and a 52-week high of $130.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a market cap of $433.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.02. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $115.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $101.24.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The network equipment provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $17.25 billion during 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%. Cisco Systems’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $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. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $95.00 to $96.00 in a research note on Monday, May 11th. New Street Research lifted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $82.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Cisco Systems from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $116.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Citic Securities raised their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $90.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.43.

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.