Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Takes $2.72 Million Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. $CSCO

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC purchased a new position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 23,166 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,721,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Intesa Sanpaolo Wealth Management bought a new position in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Networth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 276.4% in the first quarter. Networth Advisors LLC now owns 335 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 137.0% in the first quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 346 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new position in Cisco Systems in the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Evercore raised their price objective on Cisco Systems from $110.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Freedom Capital raised Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Cisco Systems from $95.00 to $96.00 in a research note on Monday, May 11th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $90.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.43.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In related news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 6,487 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.53, for a total transaction of $723,495.11. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 167,116 shares in the company, valued at $18,638,447.48. The trade was a 3.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 21,628 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.54, for a total value of $2,412,387.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 602,710 shares in the company, valued at $67,226,273.40. This represents a 3.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 69,179 shares of company stock worth $7,985,229. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Cisco Systems Stock Down 1.1%

NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $111.61 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $116.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $99.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.93. 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 capitalization of $439.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.02.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 12th. The network equipment provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $17.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.99 EPS. Cisco Systems’s revenue was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. 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. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 2nd will be given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 2nd. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.30%.

Key Stories Impacting 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.

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.