Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Stock Price Down 2% – What’s Next?

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) shares were down 2% on Friday . The company traded as low as $109.71 and last traded at $109.93. Approximately 13,014,016 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 44% from the average daily volume of 23,298,945 shares. The stock had previously closed at $112.15.

Cisco Systems News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Cisco launched a Sovereign Critical Infrastructure portfolio in Canada and expanded its Secure AI Factory with NVIDIA and Supermicro. The offerings target enterprises, neocloud providers and sovereign-cloud customers seeking integrated AI compute, cooling and networking infrastructure. Cisco Unveils Sovereign and AI Infrastructure Offerings
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley maintained a $135 price target, citing Cisco’s potential supply advantage through TSMC as shortages continue to affect the AI infrastructure market. This supports the view that Cisco may be positioned to benefit from strong AI networking demand. Morgan Stanley Reveals Cisco’s Supply Edge
• Positive Sentiment: Cisco’s NVIDIA partnership is also linked to the industry’s shift toward liquid-cooled, high-density AI systems, potentially expanding the company’s role in the broader AI infrastructure buildout. NVIDIA’s AI Chips and Liquid Cooling
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts comparing Cisco with Hewlett Packard Enterprise highlighted Cisco’s strong hyperscaler AI orders, networking growth and expanding security business as long-term competitive advantages. HPE vs. CSCO
• Neutral Sentiment: Cisco gave all approximately 90,000 employees access to personal AI agents, demonstrating broad internal adoption of AI, though the immediate financial impact is unclear. Cisco Gives Employees AI Agents
• Negative Sentiment: A growth-stock analysis questioned whether Cisco can sustain enough growth to support its premium valuation, reviving concerns that enthusiasm surrounding AI networking may have outpaced underlying fundamentals. With a P/E ratio above 30, the stock may be particularly sensitive to any slowdown in growth expectations. Growth Stock Analysis

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on CSCO shares. Citic Securities boosted their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $90.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Cisco Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Freedom Capital raised Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cisco Systems presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.43.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $433.28 billion, a PE ratio of 32.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.02. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $115.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $101.24. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 12th. The network equipment provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.05. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 20.95% and a return on equity of 30.16%. The company had revenue of $17.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.84 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.99 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. 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. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 2nd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.30%.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 7,127 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.91, for a total value of $854,598.57. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 140,857 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,890,162.87. The trade was a 4.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Jeetendra I. Patel sold 7,170 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.57, for a total transaction of $799,956.90. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 230,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,727,261.01. The trade was a 3.02% 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 53,611 shares of company stock valued at $6,066,680. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cisco Systems

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of CSCO. Intesa Sanpaolo Wealth Management bought a new position in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Networth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 276.4% in the 1st quarter. Networth Advisors LLC now owns 335 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 137.0% during the first quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 346 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Cisco Systems

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.