Pzena Investment Management LLC Invests $150.50 Million in Cisco Systems, Inc. $CSCO

Pzena Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,281,329 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $150,505,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CSCO. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Cisco Systems by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 398,943,293 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $30,730,602,000 after purchasing an additional 4,049,893 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,129,647,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 195,521,161 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $15,060,995,000 after purchasing an additional 1,057,962 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in Cisco Systems by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 75,326,258 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $5,802,382,000 after purchasing an additional 206,352 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Cisco Systems by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 59,836,782 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $4,609,227,000 after purchasing an additional 6,224,062 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Cisco Systems

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

• Positive Sentiment: Cisco reported record fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of about $17.3 billion, up 18% year over year, and non-GAAP EPS of $1.22, exceeding the $1.17 consensus estimate. Management also forecast fiscal 2027 EPS of $5.05–$5.11 and expects $7.5 billion in AI-infrastructure revenue, reinforcing the company’s growth outlook. Cisco AI infrastructure and margin article
• Positive Sentiment: Strong AI-infrastructure orders—$4 billion in the latest quarter and $9.3 billion for fiscal 2026—are increasing investor confidence that Cisco is benefiting from data-center networking demand. Reports identifying Cisco among Fabrinet’s AI-related customers provide additional support for the broader AI supply-chain opportunity. Strong AI infrastructure orders article
• Positive Sentiment: Freedom Capital upgraded Cisco from “hold” to “strong buy.” Other analysts, including Wells Fargo, have raised price targets, and the broader analyst consensus remains “Moderate Buy.”
• Neutral Sentiment: The earnings-driven selloff has prompted some commentators to call the decline an overreaction, while others recommend diversified ETFs as a lower-risk way to gain exposure to Cisco’s AI growth. This reflects optimism about the business but caution about owning the individual stock. Cisco selloff analysis
• Negative Sentiment: Gross margin fell to 66.3% and is expected at roughly 65%–66% in the next quarter. Higher memory costs, pricing changes and a heavier hardware mix are supporting revenue but pressuring profitability, raising questions about how sustainable the AI boom will be. Cisco margin pressure article
• Negative Sentiment: HSBC cut Cisco to “hold,” adding to valuation concerns after the post-earnings decline. CEO Charles Robbins and three other insiders also sold a combined 38,045 shares, although the transactions were made under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans and the executives retained substantial positions.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In other news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 6,487 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.53, for a total transaction of $723,495.11. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 167,116 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,638,447.48. The trade was a 3.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Oliver Tuszik sold 2,760 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.46, for a total transaction of $310,389.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 165,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,586,938.96. This represents a 1.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 69,179 shares of company stock valued at $7,985,229 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CSCO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $116.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.43.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ CSCO opened at $111.61 on Wednesday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $66.13 and a fifty-two week high of $130.37. The stock has a market cap of $439.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a fifty day moving average of $116.63 and a 200-day moving average of $99.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 12th. The network equipment provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.05. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 20.95% and a return on equity of 30.16%. The business had revenue of $17.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.84 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.99 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Cisco Systems has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.050-5.110 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.320-1.340 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 2nd. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is 50.30%.

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.