Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Posted by Brian Himes on Sep 16th, 2026

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO – Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-five analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, sixteen have assigned a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $129.6818.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on CSCO shares. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. HSBC downgraded Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $137.00 to $120.00 in a report on Friday, August 14th. KeyCorp increased their target price on Cisco Systems from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $135.00 target price on the stock.

Check Out Our Latest Report on Cisco Systems

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cisco Systems news, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 6,487 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The shares were 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. This trade represents a 3.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Oliver Tuszik sold 2,760 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.46, for a total transaction of $310,389.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 165,276 shares in the company, valued at $18,586,938.96. The trade was 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 44,869 shares of company stock worth $5,005,620 over the last 90 days. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cisco Systems

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

Cisco Systems Price Performance

CSCO opened at $110.07 on Wednesday. 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 $433.96 billion, a PE ratio of 32.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.00. Cisco Systems has a 1 year low of $66.38 and a 1 year high of $130.37. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $113.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $103.93.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 12th. The network equipment provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $17.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.84 billion. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 20.95% and a return on equity of 30.16%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.99 EPS. 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, sell-side analysts expect that Cisco Systems will post 4.43 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Investors 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 yield of 1.5%. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.30%.

More Cisco Systems News

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

Positive Sentiment: Expanded Splunk AI and NVIDIA partnership: Cisco introduced the Cisco AI POD for Splunk, enabling customers to run, secure and monitor AI workloads on-premises. The expanded NVIDIA relationship also brings agentic AI capabilities to Splunk customers, potentially supporting Cisco’s goal of significantly increasing AI-related revenue. Cisco Delivers Trusted AI at Scale Through New Splunk Advancements
Positive Sentiment: Enterprise AI cost and security tools: Splunk’s new Tokenomics product tracks AI spending and coding-agent usage in real time, while additional observability tools monitor AI-agent behavior, performance and risks. These offerings could make Cisco’s cybersecurity and observability portfolio more valuable as businesses deploy AI. Cisco Systems Stock: Splunk Deepens NVIDIA and AWS Ties for Enterprise AI Tools
Neutral Sentiment: Longer-term technology initiatives: Cisco joined Verizon’s 6G Innovation Forum and is researching distributed quantum networking with Infleqtion. These projects strengthen Cisco’s positioning in next-generation infrastructure but are unlikely to materially affect near-term results. Cisco Takes a Formal Role in 6G and Quantum Networking
Neutral Sentiment: Insider sales were limited: Executives Oliver Tuszik and Thimaya Subaiya sold small portions of their holdings under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans. The transactions are unlikely to signal a meaningful change in management’s outlook. Cisco EVP Insider Sale
Negative Sentiment: Core networking concerns: Commentary questioning why Cisco no longer leads with its campus-refresh business may raise concerns that the company is shifting attention away from a traditional networking growth engine, or that campus demand is moderating. Why Did Cisco Stop Leading With Its Campus Refresh?

About Cisco Systems

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Cisco Systems, Inc is a global technology company that provides networking, cybersecurity, collaboration, observability and other information technology solutions. Its offerings include routers, switches, wireless networking equipment, data center infrastructure, security platforms, unified communications tools and software designed to help organizations connect, manage and protect their digital environments.

Cisco serves businesses, government agencies, educational institutions, telecommunications providers and other organizations worldwide.