Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec Sells 850,191 Shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. $CSCO

Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec lowered its position in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 15.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,711,992 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 850,191 shares during the period. Cisco Systems accounts for about 0.8% of Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $553,471,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Intesa Sanpaolo Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Networth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 276.4% in the 1st quarter. Networth Advisors LLC now owns 335 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the period. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC lifted its position in Cisco Systems by 137.0% during the 1st quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 346 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Cisco Systems

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.

Cisco Systems Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of Cisco Systems stock opened at $111.11 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $115.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $100.78. The stock 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $66.13 and a 52-week high of $130.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.93.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The network equipment provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.84 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company 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. On average, analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 2nd will be issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 2nd. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CSCO has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Evercore boosted their price target on Cisco Systems from $110.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. New Street Research upped their price target on Cisco Systems from $82.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Cisco Systems from $132.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $95.00 to $96.00 in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jeetendra I. Patel sold 7,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.57, for a total transaction of $799,956.90. Following the sale, the insider owned 230,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,727,261.01. This trade represents a 3.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 6,487 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.53, for a total transaction of $723,495.11. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 167,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,638,447.48. This trade represents a 3.74% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 53,611 shares of company stock worth $6,066,680. 0.01% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.