Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Sunday, Wall Street Zen reports.

CSCO has been the topic of several other research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Cisco Systems in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $135.00 target price on the stock. HSBC lowered Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $137.00 to $120.00 in a report on Friday, August 14th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $132.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Freedom Capital raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.68.

Cisco Systems Stock Up 1.8%

Cisco Systems stock opened at $111.46 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.93. Cisco Systems has a one year low of $66.81 and a one year high of $130.37. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $112.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $104.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $439.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.00.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $17.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.84 billion. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 20.95% and a return on equity of 30.16%. Cisco Systems’s quarterly revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $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. As a group, equities analysts expect that Cisco Systems will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In related news, EVP Deborah Stahlkopf sold 6,487 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.53, for a total transaction of $723,495.11. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 167,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,638,447.48. This trade represents a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.54, for a total transaction of $2,412,387.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 602,710 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,226,273.40. This trade represents a 3.46% 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 44,869 shares of company stock valued at $5,005,620. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cisco Systems

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the 2nd quarter worth $42,129,647,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted 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 purchasing an additional 6,224,062 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at $4,473,272,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its stake in Cisco Systems by 8,718.3% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 51,952,421 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $400,190,000 after purchasing an additional 51,363,281 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Cisco Systems by 18.0% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 50,320,905 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $3,876,219,000 after buying an additional 7,679,422 shares during the period. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting Cisco Systems

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

• Positive Sentiment: Splunk expands enterprise AI opportunity: Splunk is positioning self-managed AI agents to operate behind customers’ firewalls, potentially broadening Cisco’s addressable market among organizations with strict data-security requirements. Token tracking also creates a separate AI governance opportunity. Cisco Moves Higher as Splunk Takes Agents Behind the Firewall
• Positive Sentiment: Cybersecurity positioning gains attention: NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang identified cybersecurity as a major growth market, with Cisco among the companies benefiting from NVIDIA’s expanding AI-security partnerships. The development reinforces Cisco’s exposure to AI infrastructure and security spending. These 3 Stocks Sit at the Center of NVIDIA’s Cybersecurity Push
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment improves: Wall Street Zen upgraded Cisco to Buy, while MarketBeat highlighted Cisco as a dividend stock combining income, expected earnings growth and Moderate Buy analyst support. Wall Street Zen Upgrades Cisco Systems to Buy
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor attention is elevated: Cisco is trending among Zacks users, but the coverage primarily reviews existing earnings, valuation and outlook factors rather than announcing a new fundamental catalyst. What to Know Beyond Why Cisco Is a Trending Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Competitive comparisons remain relevant: Articles comparing Cisco with Arista Networks and Dell highlight strong AI-related networking demand across the sector, but also emphasize competition for enterprise and data-center spending. Arista Networks vs. Cisco Systems Comparison
• Negative Sentiment: Growth-stock risks and competition could limit upside: Commentary warns that Cisco’s slower-growth profile can make the shares vulnerable if AI enthusiasm fades. Strong optical demand at Lumentum and Dell’s expanding AI customer base also underscore the competitive pressure surrounding Cisco’s AI infrastructure opportunity. 2 Growth Stocks with All-Star Potential and 1 We Avoid

About Cisco Systems

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.