Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) EVP Sells $634,489.50 in Stock

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) EVP Deborah Stahlkopf sold 7,981 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.50, for a total transaction of $634,489.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 187,097 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,874,211.50. This trade represents a 4.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Cisco Systems Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ CSCO opened at $77.65 on Friday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $52.11 and a 12-month high of $88.18. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $78.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $74.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $306.71 billion, a PE ratio of 27.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The network equipment provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $15.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.11 billion. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 27.88% and a net margin of 19.22%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.94 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 2nd. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is currently 57.54%.

Cisco Systems News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Cisco launched a 10‑year “40 Communities” program to improve emergency connectivity, disaster response networks and local digital/cyber skills — a long‑term CSR/market‑development initiative that can lead to public‑sector contracts and steady demand for networking/security products. Cisco Community Push Puts 40 Communities Initiative In Investor Focus
• Positive Sentiment: Macro/sector commentary (Goldman) highlights AI, cybersecurity and infrastructure as winners — a thematic tailwind for Cisco’s routing, switching and security franchises as enterprise and cloud customers spend on AI‑ready networks. The AI Payoff Is the ‘Biggest Question’ for U.S. Investors, Says Goldman’s Snider
• Positive Sentiment: Technical commentary suggests Cisco could clear overhead resistance — if price momentum follows, that can draw momentum buyers and short‑covering. Blue‑Chip Tech Stock Could Topple Overhead Resistance
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest data for March appear anomalous/zero — no meaningful short position to drive a short squeeze or large covering flows in the near term.
• Neutral Sentiment: Supplier/supply‑chain coverage (Jabil) and sector pieces underline stronger demand in AI/infrastructure, which indirectly supports Cisco but doesn’t alter Cisco’s near‑term fundamentals on its own. Jabil Quietly Manufactures an Accelerating Stock Price Rally
• Neutral Sentiment: Note that Cisco’s recent price weakness has partly tracked the Nasdaq, indicating some index/market pressure rather than company‑specific deterioration. Price Decline Meets Nasdaq Composite Trends
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: two executive VPs disclosed recent sales (Oliver Tuszik — 3,132 shares; Deborah L. Stahlkopf — 7,981 shares). Sales are modest relative to holdings but clustered insider sales can weigh on near‑term sentiment. SEC filing — Tuszik sale SEC filing — Stahlkopf sale
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation concern: some analysis flags Cisco as expensive on price‑to‑sales, which could cap upside for value‑focused investors despite growth in AI/networking demand. Cisco is Overvalued at 4.95X PS

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. HSBC boosted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Argus upgraded shares of Cisco Systems to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Cisco Systems from $82.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.55.

Institutional Trading of Cisco Systems

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 398,943,293 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $30,730,602,000 after buying an additional 4,049,893 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 195,521,161 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $15,060,995,000 after acquiring an additional 1,057,962 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Cisco Systems by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 75,326,258 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $5,802,382,000 after acquiring an additional 206,352 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 6,224,062 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth about $4,473,272,000. Hedge funds and other 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.