Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Upgraded at Zacks Research

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

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Barclays raised their target price on Cisco Systems from $71.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on Cisco Systems from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Cisco Systems from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.81.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $78.96 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $311.98 billion, a PE ratio of 29.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.87. Cisco Systems has a fifty-two week low of $52.11 and a fifty-two week high of $80.82. The company has a fifty day moving average of $76.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.97.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The network equipment provider reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $14.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.77 billion. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 18.38% and a return on equity of 27.29%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.91 earnings per share. Cisco Systems has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.080-4.140 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 1.010-1.030 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Cisco Systems will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Friday, January 2nd were given a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 2nd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 164,584 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.85, for a total value of $12,812,864.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 196,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,316,053.30. This represents a 45.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael D. Capellas sold 16,150 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.28, for a total transaction of $1,248,072.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 157,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,149,807.04. The trade was a 9.32% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 1,044,865 shares of company stock worth $81,397,635 over the last ninety days. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cisco Systems

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CSCO. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 393,989,568 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $27,334,996,000 after acquiring an additional 5,039,714 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 194,695,250 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $13,507,956,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067,872 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Cisco Systems by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 99,252,395 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $6,864,058,000 after purchasing an additional 1,157,704 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,816,825,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Cisco Systems by 10.5% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 53,612,720 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $3,668,182,000 after purchasing an additional 5,081,469 shares in the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about Cisco Systems

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

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analyst upgrades pushed optimism — Evercore ISI raised CSCO to “Outperform” and Zacks upgraded the stock to “Strong-Buy,” prompting buy-side attention and short-term buying. Evercore ISI Upgrade Zacks Upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Market reaction to the upgrades: coverage noted CSCO trading up following analyst action, reinforcing the short-term lift from broker sentiment. Trading Up After Upgrade
• Neutral Sentiment: Local deals and product relevance stories (e.g., Georgetown’s Wi‑Fi 7 overhaul using Cisco gear) highlight demand for Cisco networking in campus/AI-edge projects — supportive for long-term revenue but not an immediate catalyst. Georgetown Wi‑Fi 7 Story
• Neutral Sentiment: Contributor piece and analyst roundup coverage (Wall Street calls, “moderate buy” consensus articles) are adding attention but contain mixed views — useful context but not decisive by itself. Analyst Calls Roundup Analyst Consensus
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short-interest data looks anomalous (entries show 0 shares and NaN changes); this appears to be a data error and is unlikely to be a real market-moving factor today.
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Chuck Robbins warned of potential “AI carnage” where winners and losers emerge as AI spending evolves — comments add caution about future demand concentration and execution risk. Robbins AI Warning
• Negative Sentiment: Some outlets (e.g., a Forbes analysis) argue CSCO could face downside and even suggest selling — such bearish takes can pressure sentiment among retail and momentum traders. Forbes Sell Thesis

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.