Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Raised to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Sunday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on CSCO. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. HSBC lowered shares of Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $137.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Zacks Research raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $121.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cisco Systems has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $128.52.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Cisco Systems stock opened at $115.34 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $454.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.99. Cisco Systems has a 12 month low of $66.81 and a 12 month 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’s 50-day moving average is $112.17 and its 200-day moving average is $108.22.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 12th. The network equipment provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $17.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.84 billion. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 30.16% and a net margin of 20.95%. The company’s revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous 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. Equities analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems will post 4.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Oliver Tuszik sold 680 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.18, for a total transaction of $74,922.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 163,337 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,996,470.66. The trade was a 0.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 312 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.18, for a total transaction of $34,376.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 127,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,065,688.98. This trade represents a 0.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 44,869 shares of company stock valued at $5,005,620 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cisco Systems

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the second quarter valued at about $42,129,647,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 51,363,281 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Cisco Systems during the second quarter worth about $5,892,379,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Cisco Systems during the second quarter worth about $4,714,574,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,997,004,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: AI networking partnership with NVIDIA: Cisco and NVIDIA are developing an ultra-dense, small-form-factor pluggable optical module supporting 400Gb/s-per-lane electrical signals and up to 12.8Tb/s of capacity. The technology is intended to help AI data centers connect hundreds of thousands of GPUs while improving power efficiency and preserving an open, serviceable Ethernet architecture. NVIDIA, Cisco Collaborate On Ultra-Dense Small Form Factor Pluggable
• Positive Sentiment: Broader AI infrastructure rollout: At the 2026 Open Compute Project summit, Cisco introduced new silicon, systems and optical products designed to support large-scale and distributed AI factories. The announcements could strengthen Cisco’s position in the rapidly expanding AI networking market. Cisco Advances Scalability and Openness at OCP 2026
• Positive Sentiment: AI expertise added to the board: Cisco appointed industrial AI executive Girish Rishi as a director, adding experience in artificial intelligence, data platforms and product development as the company expands its AI strategy. Cisco Adds Girish Rishi To Its Board As AI Push Deepens
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed institutional positioning: Recent filings showed substantial purchases by several large institutions but reductions by others, suggesting continued interest in CSCO alongside portfolio rebalancing.
• Negative Sentiment: Profit-taking and valuation pressure: Market commentary attributed the decrease primarily to the stock’s substantial prior appreciation, concerns that AI-related growth expectations may be near a peak, and a recent analyst price-target reduction while maintaining a neutral rating. No new earnings release or major negative filing was identified as a clear catalyst. Why Cisco Systems Stock Is Down Today
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: Reported open-market activity showed numerous Cisco insiders selling shares and no purchases during the past six months, a potential sentiment headwind, although such transactions can also reflect scheduled or personal financial activity.

Cisco Systems Company Profile

Cisco Systems, Inc is a global technology company that develops networking, cybersecurity, collaboration, observability and data center solutions. Its products and services help businesses, governments, educational institutions and other organizations connect users and devices, manage infrastructure, protect digital environments and support cloud-based operations.

Cisco’s portfolio includes routers and switches, wireless networking equipment, network management software, firewalls, identity and access tools, endpoint security products, collaboration applications and observability platforms.