Cisco Systems, Inc. $CSCO Stock: Focused Alpha LLC Raises Position

Focused Alpha LLC grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 29.9% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 25,305 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,826 shares during the quarter. Focused Alpha LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $2,724,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Eagle Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Cisco Systems by 2.9% in the third quarter. Eagle Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,249 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,534,000 after purchasing an additional 403 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 945,883 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $101,805,000 after purchasing an additional 7,287 shares during the last quarter. Milestones Private Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 9.6% during the third quarter. Milestones Private Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,501 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $377,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE raised its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 10.1% during the third quarter. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE now owns 21,722 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $2,338,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Planning Group LLC grew its position in Cisco Systems by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC now owns 14,704 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,583,000 after buying an additional 606 shares during the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 30th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 16th. Wall Street Zen raised Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, October 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Cisco Systems from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cisco Systems currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $128.52.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ CSCO opened at $106.50 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $111.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $109.30. The company has a market capitalization of $419.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.26, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.99. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1-year low of $69.85 and a 1-year high of $130.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $17.25 billion for 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%. Cisco Systems’s revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.99 earnings per share. 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. Sell-side analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 4.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 2nd. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is presently 50.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jeetendra I. Patel sold 7,170 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.57, for a total value of $799,956.90. Following the sale, the insider owned 230,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,727,261.01. This represents a 3.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Oliver Tuszik sold 680 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.18, for a total value of $74,922.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 163,337 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,996,470.66. This trade represents a 0.41% decrease in their position. 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 44,869 shares of company stock valued at $5,005,620. 0.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Cisco Systems

Cisco Systems, Inc is a global technology company that develops networking, cybersecurity, collaboration and observability solutions for businesses, government organizations and service providers. Its offerings include routers, switches, wireless networking equipment, data-center infrastructure, security software and services, as well as technologies that support cloud and hybrid IT environments.

The company also provides collaboration tools through its Webex portfolio, cloud-managed networking through Cisco Meraki and security and observability capabilities that include technologies from Splunk, which Cisco acquired in 2024.