Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Down 5.1% Following Analyst Downgrade

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)’s stock price traded down 5.1% on Tuesday after Piper Sandler lowered their price target on the stock from $132.00 to $125.00. Piper Sandler currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Cisco Systems traded as low as $106.56 and last traded at $105.7670. 8,318,878 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 63% from the average daily volume of 22,646,293 shares. The stock had previously closed at $111.46.

CSCO has been the subject of a number of other reports. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday. HSBC cut shares of Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $137.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Cisco Systems from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Cisco Systems from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.36.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 6,487 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.53, for a total transaction of $723,495.11. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 167,116 shares in the company, valued at $18,638,447.48. This trade represents a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Jeetendra I. Patel sold 7,170 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.57, for a total transaction of $799,956.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 230,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,727,261.01. This trade represents a 3.02% 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 44,869 shares of company stock worth $5,005,620 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Cisco Systems

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

• Positive Sentiment: Cisco’s AI and cybersecurity positioning remains a supportive long-term theme. Its Splunk integration is expanding capabilities in network visibility, security, and enterprise AI governance, including self-managed AI agents operating behind corporate firewalls. Cisco Moves Higher as Splunk Takes Agents Behind the Firewall
• Positive Sentiment: Recent fundamentals remain strong: Cisco’s latest quarterly release showed revenue of approximately $17.3 billion, up about 18% year over year, and non-GAAP EPS of $1.22, exceeding consensus. Fiscal 2027 guidance also indicated continued growth.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst price targets remain generally above recent trading levels, with a six-month median target of $130 and some targets as high as $150. Cisco’s dividend and announced share-repurchase program may also provide shareholder support.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cisco Systems

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,129,647,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 59,836,782 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,609,227,000 after acquiring an additional 6,224,062 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at $4,473,272,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its position in Cisco Systems by 8,718.3% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 51,952,421 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $400,190,000 after purchasing an additional 51,363,281 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 18.0% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 50,320,905 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $3,876,219,000 after acquiring an additional 7,679,422 shares in the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cisco Systems Trading Down 5.8%

The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $413.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $112.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $104.79.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted its earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.84 billion. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 30.16% and a net margin of 20.95%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company 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. On average, equities research analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 4.43 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Investors of record on Friday, October 2nd will be issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 2nd. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.30%.

Cisco Systems Company Profile

Cisco Systems, Inc is a global technology company that provides networking, cybersecurity, collaboration, observability and other information technology solutions. Its offerings include routers, switches, wireless networking equipment, data center infrastructure, security platforms, unified communications tools and software designed to help organizations connect, manage and protect their digital environments.

Cisco serves businesses, government agencies, educational institutions, telecommunications providers and other organizations worldwide.