Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Stock Price Up 1.1% – Still a Buy?

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)’s stock price was up 1.1% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $112.95 and last traded at $112.36. 10,200,888 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 56% from the average session volume of 23,421,094 shares. The stock had previously closed at $111.11.

Trending Headlines about Cisco Systems

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

• Positive Sentiment: Expanded NVIDIA and Supermicro AI partnership: Cisco is adding Supermicro’s rack-scale AI servers to its NVIDIA-backed Secure AI Factory. The full-stack offering combines Cisco networking, NVIDIA computing and Supermicro systems, giving enterprises, neocloud providers and sovereign-cloud customers a more integrated way to deploy secure AI workloads. This could increase Cisco’s share of rising hyperscaler and enterprise AI infrastructure spending. Cisco Expands Secure AI Factory with NVIDIA for the Rack-Scale Era
• Positive Sentiment: Security positioned as an AI growth driver: Cisco is embedding cybersecurity into AI infrastructure as customers face increasing threats and demand greater control over sensitive data. The strategy may support Cisco’s fiscal 2027 AI infrastructure revenue outlook and help differentiate its offerings from networking and security rivals such as Palo Alto Networks and Fortinet. Cisco Expands Secure AI Factory: Can it Outpace PANW and FTNT?
• Positive Sentiment: Additional infrastructure opportunities: Cisco launched sovereign critical-infrastructure offerings in Canada, potentially expanding demand from governments and organizations seeking local control, security and flexibility. Analysts and financial commentary also remain broadly constructive, citing strong AI orders and upbeat guidance. Cisco Launches Sovereign Critical Infrastructure in Canada
• Neutral Sentiment: Strong results but demanding valuation: Cisco’s latest quarter exceeded earnings and revenue expectations, with revenue up 17.6% year over year, supporting the bullish AI narrative. However, the stock trades at a relatively elevated earnings multiple, and its recent performance has lagged its 50-day moving average despite remaining well above its 200-day average. Cisco Beat Estimates but Shares Fell
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive and execution risks: Cisco is entering more compute-heavy markets where NVIDIA, Supermicro and specialized AI-infrastructure vendors are strong. Separately, Spicer Group’s decision to replace its Cisco networking stack with open-source VyOS highlights the risk of customers seeking greater flexibility and avoiding proprietary infrastructure. VyOS Powers Spicer Group’s Cisco-to-Open-Source Network Transformation

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on CSCO shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Cisco Systems from $95.00 to $96.00 in a research report on Monday, May 11th. HSBC downgraded Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $137.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Barclays lifted their price target on Cisco Systems from $121.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, New Street Research upped their price objective on Cisco Systems from $82.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Cisco Systems has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.43.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 1.1%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The business’s fifty day moving average is $115.65 and its 200 day moving average is $100.78. The stock has a market cap of $442.86 billion, a PE ratio of 33.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.02.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The network equipment provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $17.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.84 billion. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 20.95% and a return on equity of 30.16%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.99 earnings per share. 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 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 is Friday, October 2nd. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is presently 50.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 21,628 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.54, for a total value of $2,412,387.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 602,710 shares in the company, valued at $67,226,273.40. This trade represents a 3.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 5,832 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.47, for a total value of $650,093.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 128,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,310,741.54. This trade represents a 4.35% decrease in their position. 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 have sold 53,611 shares of company stock valued at $6,066,680 in the last three months. 0.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cisco Systems

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 49.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 74,187 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,392,000 after acquiring an additional 24,562 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 37.0% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,156 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $542,000 after purchasing an additional 2,474 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 10,178 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $706,000 after purchasing an additional 712 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 13,974 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $969,000 after purchasing an additional 519 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in Cisco Systems by 118.1% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 90,650 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $6,289,000 after acquiring an additional 590,650 shares during the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.