State of Wisconsin Investment Board Decreases Position in Cisco Systems, Inc. $CSCO

State of Wisconsin Investment Board lessened its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 7.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,074,120 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 163,893 shares during the quarter. State of Wisconsin Investment Board’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $159,769,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Intesa Sanpaolo Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Jessup Wealth Management Inc purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, EQ Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. CICC Research lifted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $96.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Citic Securities lifted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $90.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen lowered Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $90.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $87.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.90.

Key Stories Impacting Cisco Systems

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

• Positive Sentiment: Cisco is benefiting from strong AI-networking demand, with recent commentary highlighting Q3 revenue growth, rising networking sales, and broad order momentum across segments. Cisco Systems Capitalizes on AI Networking Boom: More Upside Ahead?
• Positive Sentiment: Cisco announced a partnership with AT&T for an in-car entertainment platform, expanding its exposure to connected-car services and recurring billing capabilities. Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO) Partners With AT&T. It’s About Cars
• Positive Sentiment: Cisco and Equinix, alongside NVIDIA, are expanding deployment of Cisco Secure AI Factory solutions across global data centers, reinforcing Cisco’s position in enterprise AI infrastructure. Equinix Collaborates with Cisco and NVIDIA to Deploy Secure AI Factories Across Global Data Center Footprint
• Neutral Sentiment: Several recent articles continue to frame Cisco as a winner in AI buildout and private 5G, supporting the bullish narrative, but these are largely commentary pieces rather than new fundamental disclosures. Cisco (CSCO) Unveils Cloud Control Platform and Advances Private 5G Connectivity Solutions
• Neutral Sentiment: A coalition announcement with Cisco as a member of an open-source security initiative adds a reputational tailwind, but it is unlikely to move the stock materially on its own. Chainguard Launches Athena, the Industry Coalition to Fix Open Source Vulnerabilities Before Attackers Can Find Them
• Negative Sentiment: One recent Seeking Alpha note downgraded Cisco, arguing that much of the AI-driven upside may already be reflected in the valuation, which could temper further gains. Cisco Systems: Still Winning The AI Buildout, But Now Everyone’s Pricing It In (Rating Downgrade)

Cisco Systems Trading Down 0.5%

CSCO stock opened at $119.57 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.02 and a 12-month high of $130.37. The stock has a market cap of $471.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.82, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.01. The business’s 50-day moving average is $103.91 and its 200 day moving average is $87.19.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The network equipment provider reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.03. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 20.14% and a return on equity of 28.44%. The business had revenue of $15.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.56 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.96 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. Cisco Systems has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 1.160-1.180 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 4.270-4.290 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 6th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 6th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Oliver Tuszik sold 2,607 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.12, for a total value of $315,759.84. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 172,727 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,920,694.24. This represents a 1.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Jeetendra I. Patel sold 7,169 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.28, for a total value of $840,780.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 246,737 shares in the company, valued at $28,937,315.36. This trade represents a 2.82% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 40,523 shares of company stock worth $4,814,224 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

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.