Premier Fund Managers Ltd Sells 43,990 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. $CSCO

Premier Fund Managers Ltd lowered its stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 31.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 95,000 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 43,990 shares during the period. Premier Fund Managers Ltd’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $7,353,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 398,943,293 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $30,730,602,000 after acquiring an additional 4,049,893 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 10.5% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 53,612,720 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,668,182,000 after acquiring an additional 5,081,469 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Cisco Systems by 3.5% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 48,498,612 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $3,318,275,000 after purchasing an additional 1,631,703 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Cisco Systems by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 42,641,483 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $2,917,530,000 after purchasing an additional 1,804,625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in Cisco Systems by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 37,674,954 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $2,577,720,000 after purchasing an additional 2,535,716 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CSCO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Evercore raised their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Argus raised Cisco Systems to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Cisco Systems presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $90.29.

Key Stories Impacting Cisco Systems

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

• Positive Sentiment: Evercore raised its price target to $110 and kept an “outperform” rating, giving the stock material upside from current levels — this supports upside momentum and institutional interest. Evercore raises Cisco price target to $110
• Positive Sentiment: Cisco is expanding its security footprint via the planned Astrix Security acquisition and a Qmulos partnership that simplifies procurement and strengthens Splunk integrations — strategic moves that can drive higher‑margin software and recurring revenue over time. Cisco security push with Astrix and Qmulos
• Positive Sentiment: Cisco’s April reveal of a Universal Quantum Switch signals a long‑term R&D edge into quantum networking and could broaden its role in next‑generation infrastructure — a strategic narrative investors may reward if commercial pathways emerge. Universal Quantum Switch analysis
• Positive Sentiment: Fundamentals remain supportive: Cisco posted a recent quarter beating revenue and EPS estimates and analysts expect continued earnings growth, with margin focus ahead of the next report — this underpins the case for a potential upcoming beat. Earnings preview and margin focus
• Neutral Sentiment: Long‑term performance stories (e.g., how $1,000 invested a decade ago would have grown) highlight Cisco’s multi‑year returns but are less influential on today’s intraday move. Long-term investment retrospective
• Neutral Sentiment: Articles caution that average brokerage recommendations can be overly optimistic; analyst sentiment helps set expectations but doesn’t guarantee short‑term price direction. Analyst recommendation overview
• Negative Sentiment: MarketWatch flagged that Cisco underperformed peers during the session, suggesting relative weakness in networking/tech names that can amplify selling pressure. Underperformance vs. competitors
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple news items note the stock fell even as broader markets gained, indicating profit‑taking or short‑term rotation out of Cisco despite positive company developments. Stock drops despite market gains

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 7,981 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.50, for a total transaction of $634,489.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 187,097 shares in the company, valued at $14,874,211.50. This trade represents a 4.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 551 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.54, for a total transaction of $42,724.54. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 27,957 shares in the company, valued at $2,167,785.78. This represents a 1.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 46,431 shares of company stock worth $3,574,820. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Trading Down 2.9%

CSCO opened at $91.54 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $82.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.40. The firm has a market cap of $361.59 billion, a PE ratio of 32.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.92. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $59.07 and a twelve month high of $94.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.96.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The network equipment provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $15.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.11 billion. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 19.22% and a return on equity of 27.88%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 2nd. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.95%.

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.