Bank of Nova Scotia Boosts Stock Holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. $CSCO

Bank of Nova Scotia raised its position in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 7.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,832,600 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 134,293 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $125,386,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bare Financial Services Inc increased its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 531.0% during the second quarter. Bare Financial Services Inc now owns 366 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Cisco Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Cisco Systems by 96.2% during the 3rd quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 408 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Cisco Systems by 115.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 468 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kilter Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems during the second quarter worth $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Beat-and-raise quarter: Cisco reported record Q2 revenue and EPS, with hyperscale/cloud AI orders up ~61% to $2.1B and management raising annual AI order expectations — a clear near-term revenue catalyst and reason for investor optimism. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and higher targets: Multiple firms have raised ratings/targets (Evercore, Citi, Argus, etc.), which supports buying interest and helps lift the stock. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Product share gains: Dell’Oro reports Cisco edged out competitors for #1 indoor Wi?Fi 7 revenue share in 2025 thanks to aggressive pricing — supports near-term hardware demand and competitive positioning. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Dividend raise: Cisco bumped its quarterly dividend to $0.42 (annualized $1.68), a modest positive for income buyers but not a major growth signal. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation & pullback debate: Several pieces weigh whether the recent pullback makes CSCO reasonably priced — useful context for entries but mixed impact on immediate direction. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor outreach: Management’s conference presentations (e.g., Morgan Stanley) reiterate networking and AI strengths — improves visibility but is informational rather than catalytic. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Margin pressure: Management warned of higher memory costs and a hardware-heavy mix that could compress gross margins despite revenue growth — a key risk to near-term EPS expansion. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: Recent SEC filings show EVP Thimaya Subaiya sold 1,744 shares and SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 551 shares last week; amounts are small vs. their holdings but can create short-term sentiment headwinds. Form 4 – Subaiya Form 4 – Wong

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 19,545 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.00, for a total value of $1,485,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 671,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,003,220. This represents a 2.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Michael D. Capellas sold 16,150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.28, for a total value of $1,248,072.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 157,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,149,807.04. This trade represents a 9.32% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 75,799 shares of company stock valued at $5,815,306 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of CSCO opened at $78.33 on Friday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $52.11 and a 12-month high of $88.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $309.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.87. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $78.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The network equipment provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.02. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 19.22% and a return on equity of 27.88%. The company had revenue of $15.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. Cisco Systems’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.42 dividend. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 2nd. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is currently 58.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CSCO. CICC Research increased their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $84.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. President Capital dropped their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $90.00 to $88.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Evercore raised shares of Cisco Systems from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $80.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Cisco Systems currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.55.

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.