Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Grows Stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. $CSCO

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 442,297 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,345 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems accounts for 0.6% of Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $30,262,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of CSCO. Lion Street Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 18.9% during the 3rd quarter. Lion Street Advisors LLC now owns 24,603 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,683,000 after buying an additional 3,909 shares during the last quarter. Kidder Stephen W acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at about $265,000. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Cisco Systems by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 43,102 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,062,000 after acquiring an additional 713 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Cisco Systems by 10.8% during the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 114,690 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $7,847,000 after acquiring an additional 11,203 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Berkeley Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 2.3% in the third quarter. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC now owns 35,710 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,443,000 after purchasing an additional 788 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CSCO has been the subject of several research reports. President Capital cut their price objective on Cisco Systems from $90.00 to $88.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 24th. Erste Group Bank cut Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Cisco Systems from $83.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $70.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.55.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, Director Michael D. Capellas sold 16,150 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.28, for a total value of $1,248,072.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 157,218 shares in the company, valued at $12,149,807.04. This trade represents a 9.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 9,801 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.38, for a total transaction of $748,600.38. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 33,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,522,525.88. This represents a 22.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 83,299 shares of company stock valued at $6,390,416 over the last 90 days. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ CSCO opened at $79.20 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $77.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $52.11 and a twelve month high of $88.18. The company has a market capitalization of $312.83 billion, a PE ratio of 27.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.87.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The network equipment provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.02. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 27.88% and a net margin of 19.22%.The company had revenue of $15.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 2nd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.54%.

Key Cisco Systems News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Cisco reported a quantum networking breakthrough (Qunnect entanglement swapping over metro fiber) and unveiled AI-powered networking/security updates and new Silicon One chips — news that supports a longer-term thesis for higher-margin infrastructure demand. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Market momentum is being reinforced by strong AI infrastructure traction: reports cite >$2B in AI-related orders and a 17% six‑month share gain, suggesting meaningful revenue benefit from Cisco’s AI push. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Technically, CSCO recently crossed above its 50‑day moving average — a short‑term bullish signal that can attract momentum and systematic buyers. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain broadly favorable: consensus brokerage sentiment and rising estimates versus peers (Cisco highlighted as cheaper vs. Palo Alto Networks on certain metrics) are supporting buy-side interest. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Corporate social and workforce partnerships (LISC, Per Scholas) underscore Cisco’s ESG footprint and local resilience work — positive PR but limited near‑term revenue impact. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation and pullback analyses are mixed: some pieces recommend patience, noting that recent gains have pushed valuations above historical norms even as growth improves. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short interest data is unclear or immaterial in the public summaries — no clear near‑term pressure signaled.
• Negative Sentiment: Erste Group downgraded CSCO to Hold, which can weigh on momentum and curb fresh inflows from certain institutional buyers. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: An insider sale (11,248 shares reported) may raise minor governance/near‑term sentiment questions for some investors. Article Title

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.