Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Stock Price Up 1.3% – Here’s What Happened

28 Feb 2026, 04:32 by Sarita Garza · The Markets Daily

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO – Get Free Report)’s stock price rose 1.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $79.42 and last traded at $79.12. Approximately 22,573,095 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 6% from the average daily volume of 24,065,916 shares. The stock had previously closed at $78.14.

Key Headlines Impacting Cisco Systems

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

Positive Sentiment: Cisco’s President and Chief Product Officer highlighted that Cisco already has a product written entirely with AI and said the company expects multiple AI-only products by end of 2026 — a clear positive for growth expectations and revenue-facing AI narrative. Cisco President Says AI Agents Need To Get The Background Checks Done — Yet Predicts 6 Products ‘Written With AI Only’ By The End Of 2026
Positive Sentiment: Cisco appears in recent dividend-stock roundups, reinforcing appeal to income-focused investors given Cisco’s yield and long-term cash generation. That can support demand from dividend investors. Got $10,000? Put It in These Dividend Stocks Now
Neutral Sentiment: Cisco will participate in multiple March investor events — increased access to management can reduce uncertainty and provide fresh guidance, but impact depends on messaging. Cisco to Participate in March 2026 Events with the Financial Community
Neutral Sentiment: Analyst/blog attention is elevated (Zacks notes CSCO as a trending stock) and valuation pieces are circulating; this drives trading interest but not a clear directional catalyst on its own. Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO) Is a Trending Stock: Facts to Know Before Betting on It
Neutral Sentiment: Coverage questioning whether Cisco is fairly priced after multi‑year gains may increase volatility as investors reassess valuation vs. growth prospects. Is Cisco Systems (CSCO) Fairly Priced After Strong Multi‑Year Share Price Gains?
Neutral Sentiment: Reported short-interest data in the feed is anomalous (shows zero), so it’s not providing a reliable signal to the market today.
Negative Sentiment: Cisco disclosed that a critical bug in a widely used networking product has been exploited by hackers since 2023; government action and remediation costs or reputation damage could pressure the stock. Cisco says hackers have been exploiting a critical bug to break into big customer networks since 2023
Negative Sentiment: High-profile commentary comparing past Cisco market dynamics to current sector froth (Michael Burry pieces linking Cisco’s dot‑com era dynamics to today’s AI winners) can stoke caution among momentum traders and raise reputation/valuation concerns by association. ‘This is Not Business as Usual. This is Risk’: Michael Burry Warns Nvidia Looks Strikingly Similar to Cisco Just Prior to Dot Com Bubble Crash

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. CICC Research upped their target price on Cisco Systems from $84.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Cisco Systems in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Argus raised shares of Cisco Systems to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cisco Systems presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.55.

Read Our Latest Analysis on CSCO

Cisco Systems Trading Up 1.7%

The company’s fifty day moving average is $77.82 and its 200-day moving average is $73.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $313.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.87.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The network equipment provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $15.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.11 billion. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 19.22% and a return on equity of 27.88%. The business’s revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.42 dividend. This is an increase from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Cisco Systems’s payout ratio is 57.54%.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In related news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 19,545 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.00, for a total transaction of $1,485,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 671,095 shares in the company, valued at $51,003,220. This represents a 2.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jeetendra I. Patel sold 11,248 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.00, for a total transaction of $854,848.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 262,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,970,976. This trade represents a 4.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 75,677 shares of company stock valued at $5,811,211. 0.01% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL grew its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 347.5% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 3,544 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $273,000 after purchasing an additional 2,752 shares in the last quarter. TD Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Cisco Systems by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. TD Capital Management LLC now owns 1,959 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $151,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the period. Tempo Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter worth $398,000. Thryve Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at $486,000. Finally, Mariner Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cisco Systems in the 4th quarter valued at $105,685,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.