BNP Paribas Exane Issues Positive Forecast for Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Stock Price

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) had its price target boosted by BNP Paribas Exane from $86.00 to $87.00 in a research report report published on Thursday,MarketScreener reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the network equipment provider’s stock.

CSCO has been the subject of a number of other reports. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Cisco Systems from $70.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday. Argus lifted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $80.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $100.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cisco Systems presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.48.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

Cisco Systems stock opened at $75.00 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $296.33 billion, a PE ratio of 26.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.87. Cisco Systems has a 52 week low of $52.11 and a 52 week high of $88.18. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $77.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The network equipment provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.02. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 19.22% and a return on equity of 28.06%. The company had revenue of $15.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Cisco Systems will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 2nd. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is currently 61.65%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kristina M. Johnson sold 13,481 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.13, for a total value of $1,039,789.53. Following the transaction, the director owned 61,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,753,521.90. This trade represents a 17.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 56,038 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.33, for a total value of $4,389,456.54. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 179,780 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,082,167.40. This represents a 23.76% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 507,122 shares of company stock worth $39,545,816. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,473,272,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 413.3% in the 2nd quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 22,393,371 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,553,645,000 after buying an additional 18,030,441 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 46.2% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 40,836,858 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,833,261,000 after buying an additional 12,904,969 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in Cisco Systems by 110.2% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 18,406,442 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,259,369,000 after acquiring an additional 9,648,265 shares during the period. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 6,778.2% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,810,012 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $472,479,000 after acquiring an additional 6,711,004 shares during the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Cisco Systems News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Strong Q2 results and AI demand — Cisco reported record Q2 revenue (~$15.3B), topped estimates on revenue and non‑GAAP EPS, and disclosed $2.1B of AI infrastructure orders from hyperscalers, confirming durable AI-driven demand. Cisco Q2 press release
• Positive Sentiment: New AI networking silicon — Cisco unveiled the Silicon One G300 chip and new routers aimed at large AI clusters, a strategic product push into AI infrastructure that supports longer‑term revenue potential. AI chip announcement
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and capital return support — Several firms raised price targets / reiterated buys after the quarter (Citigroup, UBS, BNP, Rosenblatt among others), and Cisco raised the quarterly dividend, underscoring confidence from some analysts and continued shareholder returns. Analyst target changes
• Neutral Sentiment: Guidance: revenue beats but margin commentary mixed — Cisco raised FY26 revenue and EPS ranges above consensus, and provided Q3 revenue/EPS ranges in line with estimates; however, some of the guidance implicitly assumes tariff/memory impacts, making near‑term clarity mixed. Q2 slide deck / guidance
• Negative Sentiment: Margin pressure from rising memory costs — The main driver of the selloff: management warned higher memory prices are pressuring gross margins, and reported gross margin came in below some estimates, sparking investor concern about margin sustainability. Memory price pressure / CNBC
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction: cautious outlook & sector spillover — Traders interpreted the margin commentary as a “mediocre”/cautious near‑term outlook despite the beat, driving a sharp intraday decline in Cisco and weighing on other networking/chip names (Arista, chipmakers) and broader tech ETFs. MarketWatch sector impact
• Negative Sentiment: Short interest / volume noise — Reports of increased trading and anomalous short‑interest figures (zeros/NaNs in some feeds) are noisy and not a clear driver; the dominant price action is driven by margin fears and heavy sell volume. Seeking Alpha: investor sentiment

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.