Franklin Resources Inc. Increases Holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. $CSCO

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 4.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 42,641,483 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,804,625 shares during the quarter. Cisco Systems comprises 0.7% of Franklin Resources Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $2,917,530,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Bare Financial Services Inc boosted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 531.0% in the second quarter. Bare Financial Services Inc now owns 366 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Cisco Systems by 96.2% during the third quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 408 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 115.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 468 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kilter Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 2nd quarter valued at $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Cisco Systems

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

• Positive Sentiment: Cisco announced a strategic push into sovereign/secure AI with its “Secure AI Factory” partnership and related deals, reinforcing its positioning in AI infrastructure and security — a catalyst for revenue and enterprise spending momentum. Cisco Secure AI Factory Deal Puts Sovereign AI At Center For Cisco Investors
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street commentary and retail interest are upbeat: recent analyst coverage and Zacks/market write-ups are drawing investor attention and supporting sentiment around Cisco’s growth story. Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO) is Attracting Investor Attention: Here is What You Should Know
• Neutral Sentiment: Media pieces highlight the broader cybersecurity and AI networking opportunity, which benefits Cisco indirectly, but they also spotlight pure-play competitors — this is industry-positive but mixed for incumbents. The Cybersecurity Market Is Set to Double to $300 Billion by 2030
• Neutral Sentiment: Short interest reports posted anomalous data (zeros and NaN increases) — this looks like a reporting glitch rather than a true surge in shorting activity, so it’s not a clear driver of price action. (Entries dated 3/9–3/10.)
• Neutral Sentiment: Arista’s strong AI-driven networking gains and HPE’s growing networking profitability highlight rising competition and market shifts in enterprise networking — these are industry signals investors should watch for relative share wins/losses. ANET Rises 73.3% in a Year: How Should You Play the Stock? Networking now 30% of HPE revenue but over half of profits
• Negative Sentiment: An analysis piece warns that Cisco’s investment story is shifting — growth hopes are improving but margin pressures and execution risk could weigh on forward profitability if costs rise or product mix changes unfavorably. How The Cisco Systems (CSCO) Investment Story Is Shifting On Growth Hopes And Margin Risks

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 19,545 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.00, for a total value of $1,485,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 671,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,003,220. This trade represents a 2.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jeetendra I. Patel sold 11,248 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.00, for a total value of $854,848.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 262,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,970,976. The trade was a 4.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 75,677 shares of company stock worth $5,811,211 over the last three months. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Cisco Systems Stock Up 2.0%

CSCO stock opened at $77.70 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $306.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $77.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12 month low of $52.11 and a 12 month high of $88.18.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The network equipment provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $15.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.11 billion. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 19.22% and a return on equity of 27.88%. Cisco Systems’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect 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 issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 2nd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is 57.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Cisco Systems from $82.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Argus upgraded Cisco Systems to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Cisco Systems from $70.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “neutral” 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 given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cisco Systems currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.55.

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.