Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Hits New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $94.72 and last traded at $94.30, with a volume of 13410039 shares. The stock had previously closed at $92.63.

Key Cisco Systems News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Evercore raised its price target on Cisco to $110 and kept an “outperform” rating, signaling analyst confidence in upside tied to Cisco’s product mix (about a 17% implied upside from recent levels). Evercore price target raise
• Positive Sentiment: Cisco announced plans to acquire Israeli cybersecurity firm Astrix Security, expanding its access/connectivity security capabilities — a move that should accelerate product-led sales and M&A synergy messaging. Cisco to acquire Israeli co Astrix Security
• Positive Sentiment: Cisco is pushing security momentum by adding Qmulos to its SolutionsPlus program and integrating compliance analytics with its broader security portfolio (and deeper Splunk ties), which simplifies procurement and upsell opportunities to enterprise customers. Cisco Security Push With Astrix And Qmulos
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts (Evercore coverage) argue Cisco’s Silicon One ASIC business is underappreciated and could be a multi‑year growth driver for routing and AI networking — supportive for longer‑term revenue and margin upside. Silicon One underappreciated
• Positive Sentiment: Longer‑term tech roadmap: Cisco highlighted a Universal Quantum Switch for routing quantum information over standard fiber — a strategic signal that Cisco is positioning for future, high‑value networking platforms. Universal Quantum Switch
• Neutral Sentiment: Partner ecosystem news: C1 earned full Preferred status across Cisco 360 designations — positive for channel execution but incremental vs. the larger company story. C1 Preferred Partner status
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader market context: tech stocks were mixed in recent sessions; some industry earnings (Microchip, Gen Digital, News Corp, BlackBerry) are being watched by investors but are not directly tied to Cisco’s fundamentals. Tech stocks mixed

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CSCO has been the subject of several analyst reports. CICC Research increased their price objective on Cisco Systems from $84.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Cisco Systems from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Friday, April 24th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Cisco Systems from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Cisco Systems from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $90.29.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $81.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a market capitalization of $372.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.92.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The network equipment provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. Analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 2nd. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is 58.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 19,545 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.00, for a total value of $1,485,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 671,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,003,220. This trade represents a 2.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 551 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was 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 owned 27,957 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,167,785.78. This trade represents a 1.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 46,431 shares of company stock worth $3,574,820. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cisco Systems

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Cisco Systems by 23.1% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 673,850 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $52,513,000 after purchasing an additional 126,322 shares during the period. Thayer Partners LLC MA lifted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 2.5% during the first quarter. Thayer Partners LLC MA now owns 8,836 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $686,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Independent Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the first quarter worth $4,832,000. Enterprise Financial Services Corp lifted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 31.1% during the first quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 17,279 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,341,000 after purchasing an additional 4,099 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Frazier Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Cisco Systems by 70.3% during the 1st quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,059 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 437 shares during the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.