Kristina Johnson Sells 13,481 Shares of Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Stock

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Director Kristina Johnson sold 13,481 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.13, for a total value of $1,039,789.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 61,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,753,521.90. This trade represents a 17.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Cisco Systems Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of CSCO opened at $78.42 on Friday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $52.11 and a 12-month high of $80.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a market capitalization of $309.84 billion, a PE ratio of 29.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.87. The business’s 50 day moving average is $74.59 and its 200 day moving average is $70.17.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 12th. The network equipment provider reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.02. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 18.38% and a return on equity of 27.29%. The business had revenue of $14.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.77 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.91 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. 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. Research analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Friday, January 2nd will be given a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 2nd. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is currently 61.65%.

Key Cisco Systems News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade/price-target lift: Morgan Stanley raised its price target on CSCO to $91, supporting upside expectations and likely helping buying interest. Morgan Stanley Boosts Cisco Systems Price Target
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend and corporate cash returns remain supportive: Cisco’s recent dividend (annualized $1.64, yield ~2.1%) and strong cash metrics underpin investor confidence in the name. Positive Sentiment: dividend
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation/watch-the-run: Coverage pieces are reassessing Cisco after a ~37% one‑year share-price climb — investors should balance growth story vs. stretched multiples. Reassessing Valuation
• Negative Sentiment: Security risk: Researchers disclosed that a China‑linked hacking group is exploiting a vulnerability in popular Cisco products to target enterprise customers — this raises potential remediation costs, reputation risk, and near‑term customer concern. TechCrunch: Chinese hacking campaign
• Negative Sentiment: Insider sales: Two directors disclosed multi‑hundred‑thousand to >$1M stock sales (Michael D. Capellas and Kristina M. Johnson), which reduces insider ownership and can be interpreted negatively by some investors. SEC filings: Capellas Form 4 and Johnson Form 4

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $70.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $82.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, HSBC boosted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.55.

Institutional Trading of Cisco Systems

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bare Financial Services Inc raised its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 531.0% in the second quarter. Bare Financial Services Inc now owns 366 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the period. Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Cisco Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 89.4% during the second quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 409 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the second quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 96.2% during the third quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 408 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. 73.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.