Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Cut to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research downgraded shares of Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. UBS Group increased their target price on Cisco Systems from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. CICC Research raised their price objective on Cisco Systems from $84.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Cisco Systems in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 target price for the company. HSBC raised their price objective on Cisco Systems from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Evercore raised Cisco Systems from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.76.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $82.36 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $79.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $76.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $325.31 billion, a PE ratio of 28.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Cisco Systems has a twelve month low of $53.83 and a twelve month high of $88.18.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The network equipment provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $15.35 billion for 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%.Cisco Systems’s revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.94 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 2nd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is 58.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In related news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 1,744 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.07, for a total transaction of $134,410.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 156,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,076,329.51. This trade represents a 1.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Oliver Tuszik sold 3,132 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.74, for a total value of $249,745.68. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 188,613 shares in the company, valued at $15,040,000.62. This trade represents a 1.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 46,431 shares of company stock valued at $3,574,820 in the last ninety days. 0.01% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cisco Systems

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CSCO. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at $4,473,272,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 8,718.3% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 51,952,421 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $400,190,000 after buying an additional 51,363,281 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 103.2% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 29,289,151 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,256,144,000 after buying an additional 14,874,407 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 110.2% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 18,406,442 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,259,369,000 after buying an additional 9,648,265 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 50,320,905 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,876,219,000 after buying an additional 7,679,422 shares during the period. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cisco Systems News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks and others highlight an AI networking surge driving material top‑line momentum; Zacks says AI‑driven networking contributed to substantial revenue growth and helps justify further upside as infrastructure and wireless demand shift in Cisco’s favor. Cisco’s AI Networking Surge Gathers Momentum
• Positive Sentiment: Bullish analysis on Seeking Alpha notes AI infrastructure orders (including hyperscaler demand) and disciplined OPEX helped Cisco raise full‑year EPS guidance after the quarter, supporting the investment case despite margin pressure from memory costs. Cisco Remains A Buy As AI Tailwinds Broaden
• Neutral Sentiment: Cisco is reportedly in talks to buy Israeli cybersecurity startup Astrix for roughly $250–$350M to bolster AI‑agent security monitoring — a strategic tuck‑in that strengthens Cisco’s security stack but is not a material spend relative to its balance sheet. M&A News: Cisco in Talks to Acquire Astrix
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation pieces note a strong 1‑year share run (up ~47% over 1 year) and ask whether current levels are fair; these analyses are weighing momentum versus stretched gains. Is Cisco Systems Fairly Priced?
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks downgraded Cisco from “strong‑buy” to “hold,” removing some buy‑side conviction and likely prompting short‑term selling pressure. Zacks Downgrades Cisco
• Negative Sentiment: Bear case from Seeking Alpha flags the $28B Splunk deal for materially increasing debt, compressing free cash flow versus pre‑Splunk levels, and limiting dividend upside — a structural FCF concern investors are reacting to. AI Top-Line Boom Can’t Hide Free Cash Flow Problem

Cisco Systems Company 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.