As previously reported, BofA Merrill Lynch analyst Tal Liani upgraded Cisco (CSCO) to Buy from Neutral, as he sees the company being in the early stages of a positive transition to software.

While noting the strategy shift is not new, Liani said he is also incrementally more positive on Cisco's stability following years of software-defined networking and public cloud uncertainty.

The analyst, who also points out that Cisco still trades at a valuation discount to its peers, raised his price target on the shares to $46 from $37.