Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Up 1.7% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) rose 1.7% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $79.53 and last traded at $79.46. Approximately 27,396,774 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 14% from the average daily volume of 24,034,730 shares. The stock had previously closed at $78.10.

Trending Headlines about Cisco Systems

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

• Positive Sentiment: Cisco’s President and Chief Product Officer highlighted that Cisco already has a product written entirely with AI and said the company expects multiple AI-only products by end of 2026 — a clear positive for growth expectations and revenue-facing AI narrative. Cisco President Says AI Agents Need To Get The Background Checks Done — Yet Predicts 6 Products ‘Written With AI Only’ By The End Of 2026
• Positive Sentiment: Cisco appears in recent dividend-stock roundups, reinforcing appeal to income-focused investors given Cisco’s yield and long-term cash generation. That can support demand from dividend investors. Got $10,000? Put It in These Dividend Stocks Now
• Neutral Sentiment: Cisco will participate in multiple March investor events — increased access to management can reduce uncertainty and provide fresh guidance, but impact depends on messaging. Cisco to Participate in March 2026 Events with the Financial Community
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst/blog attention is elevated (Zacks notes CSCO as a trending stock) and valuation pieces are circulating; this drives trading interest but not a clear directional catalyst on its own. Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO) Is a Trending Stock: Facts to Know Before Betting on It
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage questioning whether Cisco is fairly priced after multi‑year gains may increase volatility as investors reassess valuation vs. growth prospects. Is Cisco Systems (CSCO) Fairly Priced After Strong Multi‑Year Share Price Gains?
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short-interest data in the feed is anomalous (shows zero), so it’s not providing a reliable signal to the market today.
• Negative Sentiment: Cisco disclosed that a critical bug in a widely used networking product has been exploited by hackers since 2023; government action and remediation costs or reputation damage could pressure the stock. Cisco says hackers have been exploiting a critical bug to break into big customer networks since 2023
• Negative Sentiment: High-profile commentary comparing past Cisco market dynamics to current sector froth (Michael Burry pieces linking Cisco’s dot‑com era dynamics to today’s AI winners) can stoke caution among momentum traders and raise reputation/valuation concerns by association. ‘This is Not Business as Usual. This is Risk’: Michael Burry Warns Nvidia Looks Strikingly Similar to Cisco Just Prior to Dot Com Bubble Crash

Analyst Ratings Changes

CSCO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Melius Research raised their price objective on Cisco Systems from $84.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Bank of America increased their target price on Cisco Systems from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Evercore upgraded Cisco Systems from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $80.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, January 26th. Citic Securities upped their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $75.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $70.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.55.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 1.7%

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $77.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $313.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.88, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The network equipment provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.02. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 19.22% and a return on equity of 27.88%. The business had revenue of $15.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 2,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.74, for a total transaction of $169,395.46. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 28,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,239,456.18. The trade was a 7.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Charles Robbins sold 19,545 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.00, for a total transaction of $1,485,420.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 671,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,003,220. The trade was a 2.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 75,677 shares of company stock valued at $5,811,211. Company insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cisco Systems

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CSCO. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,473,272,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 413.3% during the 2nd quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 22,393,371 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,553,645,000 after buying an additional 18,030,441 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 103.2% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 29,289,151 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $2,256,144,000 after buying an additional 14,874,407 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 46.2% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 40,836,858 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $2,833,261,000 after buying an additional 12,904,969 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 110.2% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 18,406,442 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,259,369,000 after buying an additional 9,648,265 shares during the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.