Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Trading 1.1% Higher – Still a Buy?

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)’s stock price shot up 1.1% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $77.82 and last traded at $77.75. 15,417,444 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 27% from the average session volume of 21,035,873 shares. The stock had previously closed at $76.87.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on CSCO shares. William Blair raised shares of Cisco Systems to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Citic Securities increased their target price on Cisco Systems from $75.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Cisco Systems from $70.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.14.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $307.20 billion, a PE ratio of 29.23, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $72.05 and its 200 day moving average is $68.91.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The network equipment provider reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.02. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 18.38% and a return on equity of 27.29%. The business had revenue of $14.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.91 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. 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. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Friday, January 2nd will be 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 of this dividend is Friday, January 2nd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.65%.

Insider Activity

In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 164,584 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.85, for a total transaction of $12,812,864.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 196,738 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,316,053.30. This represents a 45.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 281,860 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.35, for a total transaction of $22,083,731.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 820,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,316,496.45. The trade was a 25.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,024,627 shares of company stock valued at $79,621,482. 0.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cisco Systems

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Severin Investments LLC grew its stake in Cisco Systems by 115.5% during the 3rd quarter. Severin Investments LLC now owns 13,970 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $956,000 after purchasing an additional 7,488 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 11.3% in the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 120,635 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $8,338,000 after purchasing an additional 12,239 shares during the last quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the third quarter worth about $550,000. Investment Research Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the third quarter worth about $1,704,000. Finally, Cambria Investment Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems in the third quarter valued at approximately $257,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Company Profile

Cisco Systems, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells Internet Protocol based networking and other products related to the communications and information technology industry in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, Japan, and China. The company also offers switching portfolio encompasses campus switching as well as data center switching; enterprise routing portfolio interconnects public and private wireline and mobile networks, delivering highly secure, and reliable connectivity to campus, data center and branch networks; wireless products include wireless access points and controllers; and compute portfolio including the cisco unified computing system, hyperflex, and software management capabilities, which combine computing, networking, and storage infrastructure management and virtualization.