Cisco Systems, Inc. $CSCO Shares Purchased by Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 3.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 645,928 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 24,125 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $44,194,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Cisco Systems by 1.3% during the 2nd 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 period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Cisco Systems by 0.6% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 194,695,250 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $13,507,956,000 after buying an additional 1,067,872 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Cisco Systems by 1.2% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 99,252,395 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $6,864,058,000 after buying an additional 1,157,704 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the second quarter valued at $3,816,825,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 3.0% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 48,531,251 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $3,367,098,000 after acquiring an additional 1,414,105 shares during the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Cisco Systems News

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $70.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. CICC Research lifted their target price on Cisco Systems from $84.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.55.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kristina M. Johnson sold 13,481 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.13, for a total value of $1,039,789.53. Following the sale, the director directly owned 61,630 shares in the company, valued at $4,753,521.90. The trade was a 17.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Michael D. Capellas sold 16,150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.28, for a total transaction of $1,248,072.00. Following the sale, the director owned 157,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,149,807.04. The trade was a 9.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 73,498 shares of company stock worth $5,641,815. 0.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

CSCO opened at $79.20 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $77.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $73.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $312.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.87. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1-year low of $52.11 and a 1-year high of $88.18.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 27.88% and a net margin of 19.22%.The company had revenue of $15.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

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

Cisco Systems 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.