Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Trading 2.5% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)’s share price shot up 2.5% on Friday after HSBC raised their price target on the stock from $74.00 to $77.00. HSBC currently has a hold rating on the stock. Cisco Systems traded as high as $77.30 and last traded at $76.85. 42,852,289 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 76% from the average session volume of 24,388,771 shares. The stock had previously closed at $75.00.

CSCO has been the subject of several other reports. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Cisco Systems from $70.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday. BNP Paribas Exane increased their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. President Capital dropped their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $90.00 to $88.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 24th. Finally, Evercore upped their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $100.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $97.19.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In related news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 281,860 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.35, for a total value of $22,083,731.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 820,887 shares in the company, valued at $64,316,496.45. This trade represents a 25.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 56,038 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.33, for a total value of $4,389,456.54. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 179,780 shares in the company, valued at $14,082,167.40. This represents a 23.76% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 507,122 shares of company stock valued at $39,545,816. Insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Cisco Systems

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

• Positive Sentiment: Cisco unveiled the Silicon One G300 switching chip designed for large AI cluster buildouts, positioning the company to compete in a multi‑hundred‑billion dollar AI infrastructure market — a clear long‑term growth catalyst. Silicon One G300 announcement
• Positive Sentiment: Q2 results beat both EPS and revenue expectations and management highlighted strong AI/customer orders (notably ~$2.1B of AI infrastructure orders), supporting revenue momentum and the firm’s raised FY guidance. That underpins upside if Cisco converts AI demand into sustained margin expansion. Zacks coverage
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple sell‑side firms raised price targets and reiterated buy/outperform views (examples: CICC raised its target to $96; UBS, Citi, BNP/Exane and others increased targets), which can support further upside via analyst-driven flows and ETF reweighting. CICC price target update
• Neutral Sentiment: Free cash flow fell year‑over‑year but remains positive with healthy margins; analysts note strong FCF long term despite higher capex for AI initiatives — this reduces downside risk but flags near‑term investment drag. TalkMarkets FCF piece
• Neutral Sentiment: MarketBeat and other bullish pieces argue for large long‑term upside (price‑target extrapolations to $150–$182), but these are speculative scenarios that rely on sustained AI share gains and margin recovery. MarketBeat long-term thesis
• Negative Sentiment: Investors punished Cisco after management disclosed gross‑margin pressure driven by a global memory shortage and higher component costs; that margin miss triggered a sharp selloff and created near‑term volatility risk for CSCO. CNBC margin story
• Negative Sentiment: Despite upbeat revenue/guidance, some analysts and market commentary viewed Cisco’s margin outlook and guidance as mixed, prompting sector weakness and headline risk that could keep short‑term selling pressure elevated. MarketWatch on market impact
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short‑interest data in the feed is inconsistent/zero and appears not to be a meaningful new factor for intraday moves. (Days‑to‑cover figures show no material change.)

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cisco Systems

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Smithfield Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 33,666 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,596,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the period. Main Management ETF Advisors LLC increased its stake in Cisco Systems by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Main Management ETF Advisors LLC now owns 12,528 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $965,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Cairn Investment Group Inc. raised its holdings in Cisco Systems by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Cairn Investment Group Inc. now owns 24,146 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,860,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC boosted its position in Cisco Systems by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 15,042 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,159,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Cisco Systems by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,407 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $417,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $303.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.07.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $15.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.11 billion. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 19.22% and a return on equity of 27.88%. 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 firm earned $0.94 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is 61.65%.

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.