Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 364,506 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. $CSCO

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lessened its holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 8.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,843,963 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 364,506 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $296,361,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.0% in 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 buying an additional 4,049,893 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 195,521,161 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $15,060,995,000 after buying an additional 1,057,962 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 75,326,258 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $5,802,382,000 after buying an additional 206,352 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter worth $4,473,272,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 10.5% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 53,612,720 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $3,668,182,000 after buying an additional 5,081,469 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jeetendra I. Patel sold 7,169 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.28, for a total value of $840,780.32. Following the transaction, the insider owned 246,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,937,315.36. The trade was a 2.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 6,586 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.31, for a total value of $772,603.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 177,223 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,790,030.13. This represents a 3.58% 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 a total of 40,523 shares of company stock worth $4,814,224 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Argus increased their price objective on Cisco Systems from $100.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Cisco Systems from $86.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Cisco Systems from $95.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. Finally, Citic Securities increased their price objective on Cisco Systems from $90.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.90.

Cisco Systems Trading Down 0.5%

NASDAQ CSCO opened at $119.57 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $103.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $87.19. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.02 and a twelve month high of $130.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The company has a market capitalization of $471.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.82, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.01.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The network equipment provider reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.03. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 28.44% and a net margin of 20.14%.The business had revenue of $15.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.96 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. Cisco Systems has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 1.160-1.180 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 4.270-4.290 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 6th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 6th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.55%.

Key Stories Impacting Cisco Systems

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

• Positive Sentiment: Cisco is benefiting from strong AI-networking demand, with recent commentary highlighting Q3 revenue growth, rising networking sales, and broad order momentum across segments. Cisco Systems Capitalizes on AI Networking Boom: More Upside Ahead?
• Positive Sentiment: Cisco announced a partnership with AT&T for an in-car entertainment platform, expanding its exposure to connected-car services and recurring billing capabilities. Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO) Partners With AT&T. It’s About Cars
• Positive Sentiment: Cisco and Equinix, alongside NVIDIA, are expanding deployment of Cisco Secure AI Factory solutions across global data centers, reinforcing Cisco’s position in enterprise AI infrastructure. Equinix Collaborates with Cisco and NVIDIA to Deploy Secure AI Factories Across Global Data Center Footprint
• Neutral Sentiment: Several recent articles continue to frame Cisco as a winner in AI buildout and private 5G, supporting the bullish narrative, but these are largely commentary pieces rather than new fundamental disclosures. Cisco (CSCO) Unveils Cloud Control Platform and Advances Private 5G Connectivity Solutions
• Neutral Sentiment: A coalition announcement with Cisco as a member of an open-source security initiative adds a reputational tailwind, but it is unlikely to move the stock materially on its own. Chainguard Launches Athena, the Industry Coalition to Fix Open Source Vulnerabilities Before Attackers Can Find Them
• Negative Sentiment: One recent Seeking Alpha note downgraded Cisco, arguing that much of the AI-driven upside may already be reflected in the valuation, which could temper further gains. Cisco Systems: Still Winning The AI Buildout, But Now Everyone’s Pricing It In (Rating Downgrade)

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.