Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at Truist Financial

03 Apr 2026, 07:37 by Mitch Edgeman · The Markets Daily

Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO – Free Report) in a report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $94.00 target price on the network equipment provider’s stock.

CSCO has been the subject of several other research reports. HSBC raised their price target on Cisco Systems from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Wall Street Zen cut Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, CICC Research upped their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $84.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Cisco Systems presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.76.

View Our Latest Analysis on CSCO

Cisco Systems Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CSCO opened at $79.02 on Tuesday. Cisco Systems has a one year low of $52.11 and a one year high of $88.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $312.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.73, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.96.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The network equipment provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $15.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.11 billion. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 19.22% and a return on equity of 27.88%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Cisco Systems will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 2nd. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.54%.

Insider Activity

In other Cisco Systems news, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 551 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.54, for a total transaction of $42,724.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 27,957 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,167,785.78. This trade represents a 1.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Oliver Tuszik sold 3,132 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.74, for a total value of $249,745.68. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 188,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,040,000.62. This represents a 1.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 46,431 shares of company stock worth $3,574,820 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cisco Systems

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Smithfield Trust Co grew its stake in Cisco Systems by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 33,666 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $2,596,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Main Management ETF Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Cisco Systems by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Main Management ETF Advisors LLC now owns 12,528 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $965,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA boosted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA now owns 13,656 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,052,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Cairn Investment Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Cairn Investment Group Inc. now owns 24,146 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,860,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Finally, Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC grew its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 15,042 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,159,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Cisco Systems

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

Positive Sentiment: Truist initiated coverage and upgraded Cisco to a strong-buy, providing a visible brokerage endorsement that can support buying interest. Truist Coverage
Positive Sentiment: Cisco released a State of Wireless report showing widespread enterprise Wi‑Fi investment tied to AI/IoT and reporting revenue/efficiency benefits — this supports Cisco’s networking product demand narrative. State of Wireless Report
Positive Sentiment: Cisco will keynote at COMPUTEX (first-time appearance) to present a “full stack approach to AI,” raising visibility around its AI infrastructure strategy and potential product announcements later in the quarter. COMPUTEX Keynote
Positive Sentiment: Cisco’s collaboration with Atom Computing to explore quantum networking expands its long‑term infrastructure story beyond classical networking, which investors may view as strategic optionality. Quantum Networking
Neutral Sentiment: Private-equity activity in cloud communications (CallTower sale/strategic investment) signals sector consolidation but has limited direct impact on Cisco’s core networking revenue; it’s a thematic industry note. CallTower / Court Square
Neutral Sentiment: Coverage noting Cisco’s upgrade momentum aligning with Nasdaq trends highlights technical/market-flow support rather than fundamental change. Upgrade Momentum
Negative Sentiment: Multiple outlets report Cisco’s gross margin contracted sequentially and management’s Q3 commentary points to margin pressure from higher memory costs and an AI revenue mix — this is the primary near-term headwind investors are pricing in. Gross Margin Contracts
Negative Sentiment: Short-term price weakness was noted in recent market pieces despite strong order trends for AI infrastructure, reflecting profit‑taking or concern that margin pressure could offset revenue growth. Short-term Price Weakness

About Cisco Systems

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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.