Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Trading Up 2.2% After Analyst Upgrade

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) traded up 2.2% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Evercore ISI upgraded the stock from an in-line rating to an outperform rating. Evercore ISI now has a $100.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $80.00. Cisco Systems traded as high as $78.91 and last traded at $78.68. 17,570,979 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 6% from the average session volume of 18,634,693 shares. The stock had previously closed at $77.01.

CSCO has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $71.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Cisco Systems from $83.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Erste Group Bank raised Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Cisco Systems from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, Argus raised their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $80.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.81.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In other news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 428 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.33, for a total value of $34,381.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 32,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,584,698.08. The trade was a 1.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 116,734 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.30, for a total transaction of $9,023,538.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 704,153 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,431,026.90. This represents a 14.22% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 1,044,865 shares of company stock worth $81,397,635 in the last three months. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Cisco Systems

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

• Positive Sentiment: Evercore ISI upgraded CSCO from “in-line” to “outperform” and raised its price target to $100 (from $80), highlighting AI-related revenue potential and giving the stock meaningful upside vs. the current price. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Several outlets report analysts are lifting targets and ratings across the street — a coordinated re-rating that supports multiple buy-side catalysts and likely triggered short-term buying. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage highlights that upgrades reflect above‑consensus profit and revenue outlooks and the view that Cisco is a large‑cap bargain amid AI-driven networking demand. These analyst notes are driving revaluation momentum. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Cisco launched the “Cisco 360” partner program aimed at accelerating AI deployments via partners (AI-ready data centers, secure workplaces, digital resilience) — a strategic move that supports recurring sales and partner-led customer expansion. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Cisco published research showing strong enterprise investment in data privacy and governance for AI — this underscores tailwinds for networking/security spend but is a mid‑to‑longer term story. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Aggregator coverage notes that the consensus analyst rating sits around “Moderate Buy” — supportive but not unanimous, implying some analyst divergence remains. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Forbes published a bearish analysis arguing CSCO could be overvalued for some investors and even suggested a downside scenario to ~$54, which may temper conviction among risk‑averse holders and add selling pressure for traders focused on valuation risk. Read More.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth approximately $208,000. Autumn Glory Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC now owns 14,029 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,081,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares during the last quarter. Mills Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth approximately $212,000. Chaney Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Chaney Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,947 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $535,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the period. Finally, 55 North Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $630,000. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cisco Systems Stock Up 2.2%

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 cap of $310.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.58, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.87. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $76.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $71.84.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The network equipment provider reported $1.00 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $14.77 billion. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 18.38% and a return on equity of 27.29%. Cisco Systems’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $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. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

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

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.