Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Trims Stock Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. $CSCO

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lowered its stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 3.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,573,194 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 318,259 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned 0.24% of Cisco Systems worth $1,124,467,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems during the second quarter worth $42,129,647,000. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Cisco Systems by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 195,521,161 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $15,060,995,000 after acquiring an additional 1,057,962 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in Cisco Systems by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 75,326,258 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $5,802,382,000 after buying an additional 206,352 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Cisco Systems by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 59,836,782 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $4,609,227,000 after purchasing an additional 6,224,062 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at $4,473,272,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of CSCO opened at $111.11 on Wednesday. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $66.13 and a 12-month high of $130.37. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $115.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $100.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $437.93 billion, a PE ratio of 33.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.02.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 12th. The network equipment provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $17.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.84 billion. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 30.16% and a net margin of 20.95%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.99 earnings per share. 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, research analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

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 issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 2nd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CSCO. Citic Securities increased their price objective on Cisco Systems from $90.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. UBS Group upped their price target on Cisco Systems from $132.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. HSBC cut shares of Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $137.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price on Cisco Systems from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.43.

More Cisco Systems News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Expanded NVIDIA and Supermicro partnership: Cisco is adding Supermicro (NASDAQ: SMCI) rack-scale AI servers to its NVIDIA-backed Secure AI Factory offering. The combined architecture pairs Cisco networking and security with high-performance computing, potentially helping Cisco capture more spending from hyperscalers, neoclouds, sovereign clouds and enterprise AI deployments. Cisco Expands Secure AI Factory with NVIDIA for the Rack-Scale Era
• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure demand is broadening: Cisco’s expanded offering is designed to address the power, cooling, security and data-control requirements of increasingly demanding AI workloads. The initiative may increase Cisco’s content per deployment and make its products more relevant as customers seek integrated, quickly deployable systems. Exclusive: Cisco expands Nvidia partnership for AI data center boom
• Positive Sentiment: Supportive analyst sentiment: Cisco’s average brokerage recommendation remains bullish, while recent coverage points to strong AI-related orders and upbeat fiscal 2027 infrastructure revenue guidance. This follows the company’s latest earnings beat and could reinforce confidence in its growth outlook. Wall Street Bulls Look Optimistic About Cisco
• Neutral Sentiment: New Canadian offering: Cisco launched sovereign critical-infrastructure solutions in Canada, giving governments and organizations more control over data and technology choices. The announcement supports Cisco’s public-sector and sovereign-cloud strategy, but near-term financial impact is unclear. Cisco Launches Sovereign Critical Infrastructure in Canada
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and execution risks: Cisco trades at a relatively elevated earnings multiple after its recent rally, and investors previously sold the stock despite strong results and guidance. Cisco also faces competition from NVIDIA, Supermicro and other AI-connectivity suppliers, which could limit margins or market share.

Insider Activity

In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 6,487 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $18,638,447.48. The trade was a 3.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya sold 7,127 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 140,857 shares in the company, valued at $16,890,162.87. This represents a 4.82% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 53,611 shares of company stock valued at $6,066,680. 0.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.