Empirical Asset Management LLC Grows Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. $CSCO

Empirical Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 226.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 57,739 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 40,060 shares during the period. Empirical Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $3,951,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,816,825,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 18,030,441 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 12,904,969 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Cisco Systems by 6,778.2% during the second 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. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Cisco Systems by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 393,989,568 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $27,334,996,000 after buying an additional 5,039,714 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In other news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 2,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.74, for a total value of $169,395.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 28,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,239,456.18. This trade represents a 7.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kristina M. Johnson sold 13,481 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.13, for a total transaction of $1,039,789.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 61,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,753,521.90. This trade represents a 17.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 75,677 shares of company stock worth $5,811,211 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Key Cisco Systems News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Networking revenue acceleration — Cisco’s fiscal Q2 networking sales rose ~21% to $8.29B, driven by AI-related and campus demand, signaling stronger order momentum and upside to future revenue and gross-profit leverage. Cisco’s Networking Revenue Growth Picks Up: More Upside Ahead?
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade — Zacks moved CSCO to a Strong Buy (Zacks Rank #1), reflecting growing optimism on Cisco’s earnings trajectory and likely supporting investor demand. All You Need to Know About Cisco (CSCO) Rating Upgrade to Strong Buy
• Positive Sentiment: International AI/security partnerships — Cisco launched a Cisco Secure AI Factory with NVIDIA in Australia and opened an AI-first autonomous enterprise hub with TCS in India, expanding go-to-market for AI/security solutions in key regions. Sharon AI & Cisco Launch Australia’s First Cisco Secure AI Factory with NVIDIA TCS, Cisco launch hub for autonomous enterprise operations in India
• Neutral Sentiment: Security thought leadership — Cisco published Splunk’s CISO survey highlighting AI governance and security risk, reinforcing Cisco’s positioning in security but not an immediate revenue signal. Splunk Report: Agentic AI Takes Center Stage in CISOs’ Path to Digital Resilience
• Neutral Sentiment: Competitive landscape note — Analyst piece compares Ciena and Cisco on AI-driven optical backlogs; highlights competition in network infrastructure but doesn’t change Cisco’s visible AI order stack. Ciena vs. Cisco: Which Networking Stock is a Better Buy?
• Neutral Sentiment: Quantum/comms ecosystem mention — IQM’s US listing story notes Cisco among investors in quantum tech, a long-term strategic exposure but not an immediate catalyst. IQM Quantum Computers to list shares in US at initial $1.8 billion valuation
• Negative Sentiment: Insider sale — SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 2,179 shares (~7% reduction of her position), a disclosed insider sale that can create short-term perception pressure on the stock. SEC Filing – Insider Sale
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrade on margins — Erste Group cut CSCO to Hold citing declining gross-margin concerns, which could cap multiple expansion if margins don’t stabilize. Erste Group Downgrades Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO) to Hold on Margin Concerns

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of CSCO stock opened at $78.14 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market cap of $308.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.87. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $77.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.58. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a one year low of $52.11 and a one year high of $88.18.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The network equipment provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.94 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CSCO. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $82.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. President Capital reduced their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $90.00 to $88.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 24th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, CICC Research upped their price objective on Cisco Systems from $84.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cisco Systems currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.55.

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.