Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Up 3.1% on Analyst Upgrade

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) shot up 3.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Evercore ISI raised their price target on the stock from $100.00 to $175.00. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Cisco Systems traded as high as $83.25 and last traded at $83.11. 34,870,867 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 74% from the average session volume of 20,050,088 shares. The stock had previously closed at $80.64.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $76.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 22nd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $82.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $90.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 116,734 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.30, for a total value of $9,023,538.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 704,153 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,431,026.90. This trade represents a 14.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Michael D. Capellas sold 10,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.13, for a total transaction of $836,860.50. Following the transaction, the director owned 146,368 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,289,363.84. The trade was a 6.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,044,865 shares of company stock worth $81,397,635. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

More Cisco Systems News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Evercore ISI raised its price target on CSCO from $100 to $175 and kept an “outperform” rating — a very bullish revision that implies substantial upside and likely helped lift sentiment among institutional investors. Evercore price target raise
• Positive Sentiment: Unusual options activity: investors bought ~89,631 call options (≈27% above typical daily call volume), signalling short-term bullish positioning and amplified demand for upside exposure. (No external link available)
• Positive Sentiment: Cisco presented at its second annual AI Summit (prepared remarks published), reiterating product roadmap and go-to-market momentum around AI networking and software — supporting the company’s argument for higher-growth margins from AI-driven workloads. AI Summit remarks transcript
• Positive Sentiment: Corporate/strategy news: Cisco is tying its AI networking push to renewable-powered data centers — a move that can appeal to customers prioritizing sustainability while positioning Cisco for AI infrastructure spending. AI + renewables story
• Neutral Sentiment: Media/analysis pieces: Several articles discuss whether CSCO is a buy after recent highs and summarize analyst views; useful for retail readers but not a direct catalyst. MSN: is CSCO a buy?
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks and other broker-coverage summaries note broad analyst support; these pieces recap sell-side sentiment but do not add new fundamental data. Zacks analyst summary
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short-interest data appears corrupted (shows 0 shares / NaN change), so it provides no actionable signal; ignore until clarified by reliable data providers. (No external link available)
• Neutral Sentiment: Aggregate analyst coverage summaries are circulating (MSN roundup), which can influence sentiment but mostly reiterate existing bullish tilt after recent results and guidance. MSN analyst roundup

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cisco Systems

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,816,825,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 413.3% during the second quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 22,393,371 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,553,645,000 after purchasing an additional 18,030,441 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 46.2% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 40,836,858 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $2,833,261,000 after purchasing an additional 12,904,969 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 110.2% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 18,406,442 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,259,369,000 after purchasing an additional 9,648,265 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Cisco Systems by 6,778.2% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,810,012 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $472,479,000 after buying an additional 6,711,004 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $77.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.41. The company has a market cap of $320.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.87.

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

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Friday, January 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.65%.

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.