Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Price Target Raised to $87.00

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) had its price target boosted by BNP Paribas Exane from $86.00 to $87.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the network equipment provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on CSCO. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 22nd. CICC Research raised their price objective on Cisco Systems from $78.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Barclays raised their price target on Cisco Systems from $71.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.19.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $76.85 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.10. The stock has a market cap of $303.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.97, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.87. Cisco Systems has a 1-year low of $52.11 and a 1-year high of $88.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The network equipment provider reported $1.04 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems 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 paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 2nd. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.95%.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In other Cisco Systems news, Director Kristina M. Johnson sold 13,481 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.13, for a total value of $1,039,789.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 61,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,753,521.90. This trade represents a 17.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 428 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.33, for a total value of $34,381.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 32,176 shares in the company, valued at $2,584,698.08. The trade was a 1.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 507,122 shares of company stock worth $39,545,816 over the last 90 days. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cisco Systems

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of CSCO. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.1% in the second quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 420,336 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $29,163,000 after purchasing an additional 4,525 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Cisco Systems by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 3,189,645 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $218,236,000 after acquiring an additional 205,043 shares in the last quarter. Greystone Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at about $8,563,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in Cisco Systems by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 686,469 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $46,165,000 after purchasing an additional 56,057 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rockland Trust Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 213.8% during the 3rd quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 20,497 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,402,000 after purchasing an additional 13,966 shares during the last quarter. 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 unveiled the Silicon One G300 switching chip designed for large AI cluster buildouts, positioning the company to compete in a multi‑hundred‑billion dollar AI infrastructure market — a clear long‑term growth catalyst. Silicon One G300 announcement
• Positive Sentiment: Q2 results beat both EPS and revenue expectations and management highlighted strong AI/customer orders (notably ~$2.1B of AI infrastructure orders), supporting revenue momentum and the firm’s raised FY guidance. That underpins upside if Cisco converts AI demand into sustained margin expansion. Zacks coverage
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple sell‑side firms raised price targets and reiterated buy/outperform views (examples: CICC raised its target to $96; UBS, Citi, BNP/Exane and others increased targets), which can support further upside via analyst-driven flows and ETF reweighting. CICC price target update
• Neutral Sentiment: Free cash flow fell year‑over‑year but remains positive with healthy margins; analysts note strong FCF long term despite higher capex for AI initiatives — this reduces downside risk but flags near‑term investment drag. TalkMarkets FCF piece
• Neutral Sentiment: MarketBeat and other bullish pieces argue for large long‑term upside (price‑target extrapolations to $150–$182), but these are speculative scenarios that rely on sustained AI share gains and margin recovery. MarketBeat long-term thesis
• Negative Sentiment: Investors punished Cisco after management disclosed gross‑margin pressure driven by a global memory shortage and higher component costs; that margin miss triggered a sharp selloff and created near‑term volatility risk for CSCO. CNBC margin story
• Negative Sentiment: Despite upbeat revenue/guidance, some analysts and market commentary viewed Cisco’s margin outlook and guidance as mixed, prompting sector weakness and headline risk that could keep short‑term selling pressure elevated. MarketWatch on market impact
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short‑interest data in the feed is inconsistent/zero and appears not to be a meaningful new factor for intraday moves. (Days‑to‑cover figures show no material change.)

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.