Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Invests $184.74 Million in Cisco Systems, Inc. $CSCO

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,572,769 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $184,737,000. Cisco Systems comprises approximately 0.5% of Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Cozad Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.3% in the first quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 26,203 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,033,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Cisco Systems by 3.9% during the second quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,413 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $283,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. August Group Capital Ltd increased its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. August Group Capital Ltd now owns 4,723 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $555,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Financial Insights Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Financial Insights Inc. now owns 6,220 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $483,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the period. Finally, CPA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. CPA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 5,335 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $627,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In related news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 6,487 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 167,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,638,447.48. The trade was a 3.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Oliver Tuszik sold 2,760 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.46, for a total value of $310,389.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 165,276 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,586,938.96. This trade represents a 1.64% 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. Insiders sold a total of 53,611 shares of company stock valued at $6,066,680 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Key Cisco Systems News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley maintained a $135 price target and cited Cisco’s potential supply advantage through TSMC amid shortages affecting the AI infrastructure industry. The endorsement suggests analysts see room for further appreciation from current levels. Morgan Stanley keeps Cisco at $135 on TSMC supply edge
• Positive Sentiment: AI networking demand remains a key catalyst. Reports point to strong hyperscaler orders, networking growth, and Cisco’s expanding security portfolio as advantages over Hewlett Packard Enterprise for long-term investors. HPE vs. CSCO: Which Stock Has an Edge in the Networking Space?
• Positive Sentiment: Cisco is expanding its partnership with NVIDIA around AI infrastructure and liquid-cooling systems, positioning the company to benefit as data centers adopt higher-density AI computing. Its Secure AI Factory initiative also embeds cybersecurity into AI deployments, potentially supporting software and security growth. Nvidia’s AI Chips Are Making Liquid Cooling the New Standard as Cisco Expands Its AI Bet Cisco Expands Secure AI Factory
• Positive Sentiment: Cisco’s move into rack-scale compute through a Supermicro-related AI infrastructure partnership could increase its share of AI buildout spending beyond traditional networking hardware. Cisco just broke its biggest hardware rule to chase the AI boom
• Neutral Sentiment: Cisco gave all 90,000 employees access to personal AI agents, demonstrating internal AI adoption and potentially improving productivity, though the near-term financial impact is unclear. Cisco Gave All 90,000 Employees Their Own AI Agent
• Negative Sentiment: A customer success story describes Spicer Group replacing its Cisco-based networking stack with open-source VyOS across 13 sites. While only one customer example, it highlights the competitive risk from lower-cost, flexible alternatives. VyOS Powers Spicer Group’s Cisco-to-Open-Source Network Transformation

Cisco Systems Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $112.15 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $442.03 billion, a PE ratio of 33.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.02. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 1 year low of $66.13 and a 1 year high of $130.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $115.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $101.18.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 12th. The network equipment provider reported $1.22 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.99 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. Analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 4.44 EPS 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 given a dividend of $0.42 per share. 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 is currently 50.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Argus raised their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $100.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Cisco Systems from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Cisco Systems from $95.00 to $96.00 in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on Cisco Systems from $86.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Two 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cisco Systems currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.43.

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.