Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) is closing out the week firmly on investors’ radar. On Friday, November 28, 2025, the networking giant’s stock traded around $77 per share, up roughly 1–1.5% on the day, putting its market value near $300 billion and extending a year‑to‑date gain of about 33%. [1]
Fresh headlines today highlight massive new institutional buying, Cisco’s rising profile in AI data center infrastructure, and its ongoing appeal as a slow‑but‑steady dividend tech stock—all against the backdrop of lingering comparisons to the dot‑com era.
Below is a breakdown of the key Cisco stock news from November 28, 2025, and how it fits into the broader CSCO story.
Cisco stock today: price action and performance
- Latest price (Nov. 28, 2025): Around $76–77 per share during Friday’s session, after touching an intraday high near $77.5. [2]
- Daily move: Up roughly 1–1.3% versus Wednesday’s close (markets were closed Thursday for the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday). [3]
- Market cap: About $300–301 billion. [4]
- YTD performance: Roughly +33% in total return terms as of November 28, 2025, according to Yahoo Finance. [5]
Zacks notes that Cisco is a “trending stock” on its platform, reflecting elevated search interest and trading activity around CSCO as investors re‑assess networking and AI infrastructure plays. [6]
For a company long branded as a mature, slow‑growth tech name, that kind of price momentum and attention is notable.
Big headline: Norges Bank takes a $3.8 billion stake in Cisco
The most eye‑catching CSCO news today comes from MarketBeat, which reports that Norges Bank—the manager of Norway’s massive sovereign wealth fund—has built a new multi‑billion‑dollar position in Cisco. [7]
Key facts from the filing:
- Shares purchased: About 55,013,326 CSCO shares in Q2.
- Estimated value: Roughly $3.82 billion, based on the filing.
- Ownership stake: Around 1.39% of Cisco’s outstanding shares. [8]
The article also highlights that:
- Cisco recently delivered better‑than‑expected quarterly earnings, with non‑GAAP EPS of $1.00 vs. $0.98 consensus on ~$14.9 billion in revenue, and laid out FY 2026 EPS guidance in the $4.08–4.14 range. [9]
- The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.41 per share (annualized $1.64), implying a yield around 2.2% at recent prices. [10]
- Analysts, on average, maintain a “Moderate Buy” stance on the stock, with an average price target in the mid‑$80s per share. [11]
For long‑term investors, a central‑bank‑backed asset manager committing nearly $4 billion to Cisco is a strong vote of confidence in the company’s earnings power, cash generation, and role in the next phase of networked computing.
Counterpoint: smaller funds trim positions and insiders take profits
Not all flows are one‑way. Another MarketBeat piece published today notes that Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC reduced its position in CSCO in Q2. [12]
Highlights:
- The firm cut its stake by 13.4%, selling 3,612 shares.
- It now holds 23,255 Cisco shares, valued around $1.6 million. [13]
The same article flags net insider selling in recent months:
- CEO Chuck Robbins sold just under 282,000 shares, worth about $22 million, at an average price in the high‑$70s.
- EVP Thimaya K. Subaiya also sold tens of thousands of shares, contributing to more than 1 million shares sold by insiders in the past 90 days, with proceeds close to $80 million. [14]
Meanwhile, institutional ownership of Cisco remains high—MarketBeat and StockTitan data suggest that over 70% of Cisco’s shares are held by institutions and hedge funds, with only a small fraction owned directly by insiders. [15]
Putting it together:
- Large, long‑horizon money (Norges Bank) is building a substantial new position.
- Smaller funds and some insiders are taking profits after the stock’s YTD rally.
That mix is typical for a mega‑cap that has run up strongly: strategic buyers step in, while early holders rebalance or lock in gains.
Cisco named a top AI data center and “slow‑growth dividend” stock
Two separate articles out today frame Cisco in very different—but complementary—ways.
1. A “Top 5 AI data center stock” to watch
An Investing.com piece on “Top 5 AI data center stocks” identifies Cisco as one of the key names positioned to benefit from surging AI infrastructure demand. [16]
According to that analysis:
- Cisco is portrayed as the “established blue chip” among AI infrastructure plays.
- The company is credited with:
- Return on equity above 22%,
- A dividend yield in the mid‑2% range, and
- A 15‑year streak of dividend increases. [17]
- On a growth‑adjusted basis, the article notes a forward PEG ratio around 0.3, suggesting that, relative to its projected earnings growth, CSCO is not especially expensive by that metric. [18]
The piece also emphasizes recent AI infrastructure deals, including Cisco’s joint venture with AMD and HUMAIN to deliver up to 1 GW of AI infrastructure by 2030, starting with a 100 MW deployment in Saudi Arabia—a sign that Cisco wants to be deeply embedded in global AI data center build‑outs. [19]
2. A “slow‑growth” but attractive dividend tech name
On the flip side, Insider Monkey’s roundup of “12 Best Slow Growth Stocks to Invest In”, also published today, lists Cisco among its top picks. [20]
Key data points called out there:
- Five‑year revenue growth: Around 2.8%, underscoring Cisco’s more modest top‑line trajectory.
- Dividend yield: Roughly 2.1–2.2%, supported by consistent cash flow. [21]
Dividend‑tracking sites note that Cisco’s latest quarterly dividend is $0.41 per share, with a forward yield of about 2.15–2.16% and a three‑year dividend growth rate of roughly 2.6%. [22]
In other words, Cisco is being framed simultaneously as:
- A blue‑chip AI infrastructure play, and
- A slow‑but‑steady dividend stock for investors who favor lower growth but solid income.
AI deals and product launches: the strategic backdrop
Today’s AI‑themed coverage builds on a string of announcements Cisco has made this year:
- AMD–Cisco–HUMAIN AI infrastructure joint venture:
A November 19, 2025 press release outlines plans to build up to 1 GW of AI infrastructure by 2030, starting with a 100 MW deployment in Saudi Arabia, aimed at serving global AI workloads with high‑performance, cost‑efficient infrastructure. [23] - Unified Edge platform for distributed AI (“agentic AI”) workloads:
Cisco recently introduced Unified Edge, a platform that brings compute, networking, storage, and security closer to where data is generated—retail stores, hospitals, factory floors—to support real‑time AI inference and agentic AI workloads at the edge. [24] - AI networking upgrades and NVIDIA partnership:
Cisco has been highlighting new data center switching solutions and reference architectures designed in partnership with NVIDIA, aiming to simplify and secure AI infrastructure for enterprises. [25] - Intel–Cisco collaboration:
A joint announcement earlier this month described an “industry‑first systems approach” to AI workloads at the edge, combining Intel’s silicon with Cisco’s networking and systems expertise. [26]
All of this helps explain why multiple outlets now group Cisco alongside specialized AI data center players. While Cisco isn’t selling GPUs, it sits in the picks‑and‑shovels layer of AI infrastructure—switches, routers, security and edge platforms needed to move and process AI traffic.
Fundamentals: earnings, growth and cash flow
Underneath the AI headlines, Cisco’s recent financials have been solid:
- Q4 FY 2025 (reported Aug. 13, 2025):
- Revenue: $14.7 billion, up 8% year over year.
- Full‑year revenue: $56.7 billion, up 5%.
- GAAP net income (FY 2025): $10.5 billion; GAAP EPS $2.61, up 3%.
- Non‑GAAP EPS (FY 2025): $3.81, up 2%.
- AI infrastructure orders: Over $2 billion in FY 2025 from web‑scale customers, more than double its original $1 billion target. [27]
- Q1 FY 2026 (quarter ended Oct. 25, 2025; reported Nov. 12):
A Reuters report earlier this month noted that Cisco shares jumped nearly 6% after management raised its annual profit and revenue forecast, citing robust demand for cloud and AI‑related networking equipment. [30]
Taken together, the financial picture is one of:
- Modest revenue growth in the mid‑single digits,
- Healthy margins and strong cash generation, and
- An expanding AI‑related order book that could support growth into FY 2026 and beyond.
Valuation, dividend and analyst sentiment
On valuation and income, today’s articles and data sources paint this picture:
- Price‑to‑earnings (P/E): Around 28–29x trailing earnings, according to MarketBeat and other quote services. [31]
- Dividend yield: About 2.1–2.2%, with a quarterly dividend of $0.41 per share and a long history of increases. [32]
- Dividend quality: Third‑party analyses describe Cisco’s dividend as stable and growing over the past decade, with payout ratios that remain supported by earnings. [33]
- Upcoming dividend dates: Simply Wall St reports an ex‑dividend date of January 2, 2026, with payment expected around January 21, 2026. [34]
- Analyst ratings:
At the same time, some money‑flow analytics (highlighted in a Yahoo Finance article that briefly tripped rate limits today) indicate strong “big money” inflows into Cisco, with the stock up nearly 30% year‑to‑date—a sign that large investors have been accumulating throughout 2025. [37]
Overall, Cisco is trading at a premium to classic value stocks but at a discount to many high‑growth AI names, while still offering a respectable dividend.
The shadow of 2000: “Cisco’s ghost” and AI bubble fears
Not all of today’s coverage is bullish. A 24/7 Wall St piece with the provocative headline “No, Nvidia is Not Enron – The Real Nightmare is Cisco’s Ghost” uses Cisco’s trajectory around the year 2000 as a cautionary tale. [38]
The article recalls how:
- Cisco’s valuation ballooned during the dot‑com bubble,
- Its stock soared several thousand percent before the crash, and
- It took many years for fundamentals and valuation to re‑align.
The piece argues that today’s AI boom could rhyme with that period, with Nvidia in the role of high‑flying growth stock and Cisco as a reminder that even market darlings can deliver poor long‑term returns if bought at extreme valuations. [39]
For Cisco shareholders, this lens cuts both ways:
- On one hand, Cisco itself is no longer priced like a hyper‑growth story, and its business is far more diversified and recurring than it was in 2000. [40]
- On the other, investors in AI‑related infrastructure are being reminded that valuation and growth expectations matter, even for seemingly indispensable companies.
Corporate calendar: annual meeting and investor events
Cisco also has a few near‑term catalysts on the schedule:
- 2025 Virtual Annual Meeting of Stockholders
- Date: Tuesday, December 16, 2025, at 8:00 a.m. PST.
- Format: Fully virtual, with a live audio webcast, slides and Q&A.
- Who can vote: Stockholders of record as of October 17, 2025. [41]
- Financial community events in December:
Cisco has also signaled it will participate in investor conferences during December 2025, giving management additional opportunities to discuss its AI strategy, capital allocation and outlook. [42]
These events may not move the stock on their own, but they can offer more color on how Cisco sees AI infrastructure demand, margins and long‑term growth.
How today’s headlines fit together for CSCO investors
Putting all of November 28’s Cisco news into one narrative:
- Institutional conviction is rising.
Norges Bank’s multi‑billion‑dollar stake is a strong signal that large, global investors view Cisco as a core long‑term holding in the AI and networking ecosystem. [43] - Profit‑taking and insider selling reflect a stock that’s done well.
Smaller funds trimming positions and insiders cashing out portions of their holdings are consistent with a stock that’s up more than 30% this year—not necessarily a bearish signal by itself. [44] - AI infrastructure is now central to the Cisco story.
Between the AMD–Cisco–HUMAIN joint venture, edge AI products like Unified Edge and collaborations with NVIDIA and Intel, Cisco is leaning hard into the AI transformation of data centers and the network edge. [45] - But the numbers still look like a mature, cash‑rich tech giant.
Revenue growth is in the low‑to‑mid single digits, not in the hyper‑growth tier. The company pays a growing dividend, runs high margins and throws off strong free cash flow—traits more akin to a “dividend tech” stock than a speculative AI rocket ship. [46] - Valuation sits in an in‑between zone.
Cisco trades at a higher multiple than classic value stocks but far below some AI‑first names. Various analyst sets still see upside into the mid‑$80s and beyond, but much good news is already reflected in the price. [47]
What to watch next
For readers following Cisco stock after today’s news, here are a few key themes to monitor:
- AI order growth: Do AI infrastructure and edge‑AI platforms continue to drive orders above Cisco’s earlier targets in 2026 guidance and beyond? [48]
- Margin and cash‑flow trends: Can Cisco maintain high operating margins while ramping investments in AI networking, edge compute and software? [49]
- Capital allocation: How aggressively does Cisco keep raising its dividend or repurchasing shares, especially with the stock near multi‑year highs? [50]
- Management commentary at the Dec. 16 annual meeting: Any new tidbits on AI strategy, M&A plans or long‑term financial targets will be parsed closely. [51]
- Macro and AI sentiment: Articles invoking “Cisco’s ghost” underscore how quickly sentiment can swing if investors decide AI has become an overheated theme. [52]
Bottom line
As of November 28, 2025, Cisco Systems sits at the intersection of three powerful narratives:
- A re‑rated blue‑chip that has delivered strong returns this year,
- A key enabler of AI infrastructure, from data centers to the edge, and
- A reliable dividend payer with slow but steady growth.
Today’s news—especially Norges Bank’s $3.8 billion stake, alongside renewed AI‑infrastructure coverage and steady dividend commentary—reinforces the idea that CSCO is likely to remain a core holding for many institutional and income‑oriented investors, even as debates over AI bubbles and dot‑com ghosts continue.
Note: This article is for information and news purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Always do your own research and consider speaking with a licensed financial professional before making investment decisions.
References
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