Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Rating Lowered to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Cisco Systems from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Cisco Systems in a research report on Wednesday, September 30th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $110.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Cisco Systems from $132.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $127.87.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

NASDAQ CSCO opened at $93.85 on Friday. Cisco Systems has a 52 week low of $70.54 and a 52 week high of $130.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $370.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.10, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $108.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $101.63.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 12th. The network equipment provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $17.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.84 billion. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 20.95% and a return on equity of 30.16%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.99 EPS. Cisco Systems has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.050-5.110 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.320-1.340 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems will post 4.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Oliver Tuszik sold 2,760 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.46, for a total transaction of $310,389.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 165,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,586,938.96. This trade represents a 1.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 21,628 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.54, for a total transaction of $2,412,387.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 602,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,226,273.40. This trade represents a 3.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 44,869 shares of company stock worth $5,005,620 over the last ninety days. 0.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cisco Systems

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cozad Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.3% in the first quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 26,203 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,033,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 3.9% during the second quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,413 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $283,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Green Ridge Wealth Planning LLC increased its position in Cisco Systems by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Green Ridge Wealth Planning LLC now owns 6,017 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $648,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. August Group Capital Ltd increased its position in Cisco Systems by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. August Group Capital Ltd now owns 4,723 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $555,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Insights Inc. increased its position in Cisco Systems by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Financial Insights Inc. now owns 6,220 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $483,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the period. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Cisco Systems

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

• Positive Sentiment: Cisco was named a leader in ABI Research’s open line systems ranking for data-center interconnects, a market benefiting from AI-driven data-center expansion. Article: Ciena, Nokia, and Cisco Named Leaders in ABI Research’s Open Line Systems Ranking
• Positive Sentiment: New partner and cloud offerings—including AI-focused tools and expanded partner incentives—could support recurring software and services revenue. Separately, Spectrum Business introduced a managed Cisco secure-networking service aimed at AI-oriented enterprise workloads. Article: How Investors Are Reacting To Cisco Stock After Analyst Downgrade Article: Cisco Expands Into Managed Secure Networking
• Neutral Sentiment: Cisco’s Q3 earnings are scheduled for November 12. Options traders are pricing in a potentially substantial move around the report, making results and guidance a near-term catalyst. Article: Cisco Set for Near 11% Move After Q3 Earnings, Say Options Traders
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley cut Cisco from Overweight to Equal Weight and lowered its price target from $135 to $120. The firm warned that faster AI-infrastructure growth could worsen the sales mix and pressure gross margins, weighing on earnings growth in fiscal 2028. Article: Morgan Stanley Downgrades Cisco On AI Impacting Gross Margins
• Negative Sentiment: The downgrade coincided with broad selling in AI-infrastructure and networking stocks. Cisco’s shares also fell below their 200-day moving average, a technical signal that may add to investor caution. Article: Cisco Falls on Morgan Stanley Downgrade and AI Infrastructure Selloff Article: Cisco Stock Price Breaks Below 200-Day Moving Average

Cisco Systems Company Profile

Cisco Systems, Inc develops networking, cybersecurity, collaboration and observability technologies for businesses, governments and other organizations. Its products include routers, switches, wireless systems and data center infrastructure, along with security software and services that help organizations connect and protect their networks.

The company also provides collaboration tools through its Webex platform and observability capabilities through its software offerings, including technology from Splunk, which Cisco acquired in 2024.