Premier Fund Managers Ltd Grows Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. $CSCO

Premier Fund Managers Ltd increased its position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 26.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 138,990 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,000 shares during the period. Premier Fund Managers Ltd’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $9,416,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 2nd quarter worth about $3,816,825,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its holdings in Cisco Systems by 413.3% in the second quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 22,393,371 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,553,645,000 after purchasing an additional 18,030,441 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Cisco Systems by 46.2% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 40,836,858 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $2,833,261,000 after purchasing an additional 12,904,969 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 6,778.2% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,810,012 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $472,479,000 after purchasing an additional 6,711,004 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 393,989,568 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $27,334,996,000 after purchasing an additional 5,039,714 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 reported a quantum networking breakthrough (Qunnect entanglement swapping over metro fiber) and unveiled AI-powered networking/security updates and new Silicon One chips — news that supports a longer-term thesis for higher-margin infrastructure demand. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Market momentum is being reinforced by strong AI infrastructure traction: reports cite >$2B in AI-related orders and a 17% six‑month share gain, suggesting meaningful revenue benefit from Cisco’s AI push. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Technically, CSCO recently crossed above its 50‑day moving average — a short‑term bullish signal that can attract momentum and systematic buyers. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain broadly favorable: consensus brokerage sentiment and rising estimates versus peers (Cisco highlighted as cheaper vs. Palo Alto Networks on certain metrics) are supporting buy-side interest. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Corporate social and workforce partnerships (LISC, Per Scholas) underscore Cisco’s ESG footprint and local resilience work — positive PR but limited near‑term revenue impact. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation and pullback analyses are mixed: some pieces recommend patience, noting that recent gains have pushed valuations above historical norms even as growth improves. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short interest data is unclear or immaterial in the public summaries — no clear near‑term pressure signaled.
• Negative Sentiment: Erste Group downgraded CSCO to Hold, which can weigh on momentum and curb fresh inflows from certain institutional buyers. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: An insider sale (11,248 shares reported) may raise minor governance/near‑term sentiment questions for some investors. Article Title

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CSCO. HSBC raised their price objective on Cisco Systems from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. CICC Research raised their price target on Cisco Systems from $84.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 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 research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $70.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Cisco Systems to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.55.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In related news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 19,545 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 671,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,003,220. The trade was a 2.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Michael D. Capellas sold 16,150 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.28, for a total value of $1,248,072.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 157,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,149,807.04. This represents a 9.32% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 83,299 shares of company stock worth $6,390,416. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $79.20 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market cap of $312.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $77.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.45. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $52.11 and a fifty-two week high of $88.18.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $15.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.11 billion. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 19.22% and a return on equity of 27.88%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 2nd. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is currently 57.54%.

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.