9,589 Cisco Systems, Inc. $CSCO Shares Sold by Welch & Forbes LLC

Welch & Forbes LLC reduced its stake in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 1.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 621,106 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 9,589 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $66,850,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,129,647,000. State Street Corp increased its stake in Cisco Systems by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 207,106,569 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $25,278,492,000 after purchasing an additional 13,512,872 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Cisco Systems in the second quarter worth about $5,892,379,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Cisco Systems by 2.7% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 43,450,141 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $5,103,654,000 after buying an additional 1,143,106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Cisco Systems in the second quarter worth about $4,714,574,000. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on CSCO shares. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, August 16th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $132.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Zacks Research raised Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 30th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on Cisco Systems from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Cisco Systems in a research note on Wednesday, September 30th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $110.00 target price on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $127.87.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

CSCO opened at $98.65 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $388.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $108.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $101.75. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $71.10 and a 52-week high of $130.37.

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, topping 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 firm had revenue of $17.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.99 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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, analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 4.42 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 2nd were given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 2nd. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is 50.30%.

Key Cisco Systems News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Cisco is expanding its AI-security tools: AI Defense will use Anthropic’s Claude Mythos for adversarial testing of AI applications and agents, alongside new Splunk Agent Observability and Cisco IQ capabilities. The launch could strengthen Cisco’s position as businesses seek ways to secure and monitor AI agents. Cisco AI security announcement
• Positive Sentiment: One analysis suggests Cisco shares could be undervalued by about 15%, offering a potential valuation argument for investors. Cisco valuation analysis
• Neutral Sentiment: The November 12 earnings report is the main near-term catalyst. Investors will look for evidence that AI infrastructure demand supports Cisco’s growth and its stated $7.5 billion AI target; options trading points to expectations of a potentially large post-earnings move. Cisco earnings and options outlook
• Negative Sentiment: Risk appetite remains a headwind: reports cite a roughly 20% decline in CSCO and a $145 billion loss in market value from its peak, while ETFs were net sellers of $64.1 million in shares on November 5. ETF flows for Cisco
• Negative Sentiment: A Morgan Stanley analyst reportedly moved Cisco to Equal-weight, adding to caution ahead of results. Investors may also be wary if earnings fail to reassure the market about AI-related demand. Cisco earnings expectations and AI concerns

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 6,487 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.53, for a total value of $723,495.11. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 167,116 shares in the company, valued at $18,638,447.48. This trade represents a 3.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Jeetendra I. Patel sold 7,170 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.57, for a total value of $799,956.90. Following the completion of 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. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 44,869 shares of company stock worth $5,005,620 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Company Profile

Cisco Systems, Inc develops networking, cybersecurity, collaboration and observability technologies for businesses, governments and other organizations. Its products include routers, switches, wireless systems and data center infrastructure, along with security software and services that help organizations connect and protect their networks.

The company also provides collaboration tools through its Webex platform and observability capabilities through its software offerings, including technology from Splunk, which Cisco acquired in 2024.