Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Trading Down 12.3% – Here’s What Happened

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)’s stock price fell 12.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $74.09 and last traded at $75.00. 67,981,816 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 186% from the average session volume of 23,746,035 shares. The stock had previously closed at $85.54.

Key Cisco Systems News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Cisco unveiled the Silicon One G300 switching chip designed for large AI cluster buildouts, positioning the company to compete in a multi‑hundred‑billion dollar AI infrastructure market — a clear long‑term growth catalyst. Silicon One G300 announcement
• Positive Sentiment: Q2 results beat both EPS and revenue expectations and management highlighted strong AI/customer orders (notably ~$2.1B of AI infrastructure orders), supporting revenue momentum and the firm’s raised FY guidance. That underpins upside if Cisco converts AI demand into sustained margin expansion. Zacks coverage
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple sell‑side firms raised price targets and reiterated buy/outperform views (examples: CICC raised its target to $96; UBS, Citi, BNP/Exane and others increased targets), which can support further upside via analyst-driven flows and ETF reweighting. CICC price target update
• Neutral Sentiment: Free cash flow fell year‑over‑year but remains positive with healthy margins; analysts note strong FCF long term despite higher capex for AI initiatives — this reduces downside risk but flags near‑term investment drag. TalkMarkets FCF piece
• Neutral Sentiment: MarketBeat and other bullish pieces argue for large long‑term upside (price‑target extrapolations to $150–$182), but these are speculative scenarios that rely on sustained AI share gains and margin recovery. MarketBeat long-term thesis
• Negative Sentiment: Investors punished Cisco after management disclosed gross‑margin pressure driven by a global memory shortage and higher component costs; that margin miss triggered a sharp selloff and created near‑term volatility risk for CSCO. CNBC margin story
• Negative Sentiment: Despite upbeat revenue/guidance, some analysts and market commentary viewed Cisco’s margin outlook and guidance as mixed, prompting sector weakness and headline risk that could keep short‑term selling pressure elevated. MarketWatch on market impact
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short‑interest data in the feed is inconsistent/zero and appears not to be a meaningful new factor for intraday moves. (Days‑to‑cover figures show no material change.)

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $83.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $82.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, President Capital decreased their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $90.00 to $88.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.19.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 2.5%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market cap of $303.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.97, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.07.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The network equipment provider reported $1.04 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $15.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 2nd. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In other news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 1,745 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.46, for a total value of $138,657.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 176,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,010,307.74. This trade represents a 0.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 428 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.33, for a total value of $34,381.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 32,176 shares in the company, valued at $2,584,698.08. This represents a 1.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 507,122 shares of company stock worth $39,545,816. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cisco Systems

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.1% during the second quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 420,336 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $29,163,000 after purchasing an additional 4,525 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 3,189,645 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $218,236,000 after purchasing an additional 205,043 shares during the last quarter. Greystone Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Cisco Systems during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $8,563,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in Cisco Systems by 8.9% in the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 686,469 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $46,165,000 after buying an additional 56,057 shares during the period. Finally, Rockland Trust Co. increased its position in Cisco Systems by 213.8% in the third quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 20,497 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,402,000 after buying an additional 13,966 shares during the period. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.