Polar Capital Holdings Plc Takes Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. $CSCO

Polar Capital Holdings Plc purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 1,654,163 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $127,420,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. World Investment Advisors lifted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 198,549 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $13,905,000 after purchasing an additional 26,455 shares in the last quarter. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 101.8% in the fourth quarter. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 107,306 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $8,266,000 after buying an additional 54,141 shares during the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 47.1% in the fourth quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 200,341 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $15,432,000 after buying an additional 64,144 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 4,311,098 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $332,084,000 after buying an additional 275,456 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Cisco Systems by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,873,274 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $375,388,000 after acquiring an additional 151,395 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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 is benefiting from strong AI-networking demand, with recent commentary highlighting Q3 revenue growth, rising networking sales, and broad order momentum across segments. Cisco Systems Capitalizes on AI Networking Boom: More Upside Ahead?
• Positive Sentiment: Cisco announced a partnership with AT&T for an in-car entertainment platform, expanding its exposure to connected-car services and recurring billing capabilities. Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO) Partners With AT&T. It’s About Cars
• Positive Sentiment: Cisco and Equinix, alongside NVIDIA, are expanding deployment of Cisco Secure AI Factory solutions across global data centers, reinforcing Cisco’s position in enterprise AI infrastructure. Equinix Collaborates with Cisco and NVIDIA to Deploy Secure AI Factories Across Global Data Center Footprint
• Neutral Sentiment: Several recent articles continue to frame Cisco as a winner in AI buildout and private 5G, supporting the bullish narrative, but these are largely commentary pieces rather than new fundamental disclosures. Cisco (CSCO) Unveils Cloud Control Platform and Advances Private 5G Connectivity Solutions
• Neutral Sentiment: A coalition announcement with Cisco as a member of an open-source security initiative adds a reputational tailwind, but it is unlikely to move the stock materially on its own. Chainguard Launches Athena, the Industry Coalition to Fix Open Source Vulnerabilities Before Attackers Can Find Them
• Negative Sentiment: One recent Seeking Alpha note downgraded Cisco, arguing that much of the AI-driven upside may already be reflected in the valuation, which could temper further gains. Cisco Systems: Still Winning The AI Buildout, But Now Everyone’s Pricing It In (Rating Downgrade)

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $119.57 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $103.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.19. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1-year low of $65.02 and a 1-year high of $130.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $471.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.82, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.01.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The network equipment provider reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $15.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.56 billion. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 20.14% and a return on equity of 28.44%. The business’s revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.96 EPS. Cisco Systems has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 1.160-1.180 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 4.270-4.290 EPS. Analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.54 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 6th will be given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 6th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is currently 54.55%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Oliver Tuszik sold 2,607 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.12, for a total value of $315,759.84. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 172,727 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,920,694.24. This represents a 1.49% decrease in their position. The sale 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, CEO Charles Robbins sold 21,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.03, for a total value of $2,568,642.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 637,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $76,469,312.55. This represents a 3.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 40,523 shares of company stock worth $4,814,224 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on CSCO. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $87.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Cisco Systems from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Citigroup increased their price target on Cisco Systems from $90.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Cisco Systems from $76.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.90.

Cisco Systems 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.