Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Downgraded by Morgan Stanley to “Equal Weight”

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) was downgraded by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report released on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $120.00 price objective on the network equipment provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley‘s target price would suggest a potential upside of 15.82% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on CSCO. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. KeyCorp raised their price target on Cisco Systems from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Wednesday, September 30th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $110.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $127.87.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Cisco Systems stock opened at $103.61 on Thursday. Cisco Systems has a 1-year low of $70.54 and a 1-year high of $130.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $408.49 billion, a PE ratio of 31.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $109.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $101.42.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The network equipment provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $17.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.84 billion. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 20.95% and a return on equity of 30.16%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.99 EPS. 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, analysts expect that Cisco Systems will post 4.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 6,487 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.53, for a total value of $723,495.11. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 167,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,638,447.48. This represents a 3.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 21,628 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.54, for a total transaction of $2,412,387.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 602,710 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,226,273.40. This represents a 3.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 44,869 shares of company stock valued at $5,005,620. Insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cisco Systems

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the second quarter worth approximately $6,442,000. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the second quarter worth $60,009,000. Western Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Cisco Systems by 60.5% during the 1st quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 76,372 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,926,000 after buying an additional 28,792 shares during the last quarter. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 2nd quarter valued at $19,114,000. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in Cisco Systems by 24.6% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 363,506 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $47,287,000 after acquiring an additional 71,774 shares during the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Cisco Systems

Cisco Systems, Inc is a global technology company that develops networking, cybersecurity, collaboration and observability solutions for businesses, government organizations and service providers. Its offerings include routers, switches, wireless networking equipment, data-center infrastructure, security software and services, as well as technologies that support cloud and hybrid IT environments.

The company also provides collaboration tools through its Webex portfolio, cloud-managed networking through Cisco Meraki and security and observability capabilities that include technologies from Splunk, which Cisco acquired in 2024.