Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Stock Price Up 4.3% – Should You Buy?

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) was up 4.3% on Monday . The company traded as high as $458.00 and last traded at $447.24. 2,489,728 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 16% from the average daily volume of 2,951,383 shares. The stock had previously closed at $428.77.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus set a $615.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Northland Securities set a $450.00 price objective on Ciena in a research note on Friday, June 5th. B. Riley Financial increased their target price on Ciena from $283.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Rothschild & Co Redburn initiated coverage on Ciena in a research report on Friday, May 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $416.00 target price for the company. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Ciena from $550.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $530.56.

Ciena Stock Up 4.3%

The stock has a market capitalization of $63.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 149.08 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $424.42 and its 200-day moving average is $426.96. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. Ciena had a net margin of 7.87% and a return on equity of 18.15%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 39.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ciena news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.02, for a total value of $1,349,123.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 266,605 shares in the company, valued at approximately $121,843,817.10. The trade was a 1.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,629 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.20, for a total value of $1,225,639.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 62,382 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,082,488.40. This represents a 4.04% 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 17,475 shares of company stock worth $8,164,824 over the last ninety days. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ciena

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new stake in Ciena during the 1st quarter worth about $395,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of Ciena by 139.6% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 5,253 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $317,000 after acquiring an additional 3,061 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ciena by 1.4% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 222,054 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $13,419,000 after purchasing an additional 3,117 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 14.6% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 5,762 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $348,000 after purchasing an additional 733 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ciena during the second quarter valued at approximately $234,000. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Ciena

Ciena Corporation (NYSE: CIEN) is a global supplier of telecommunications networking equipment, software and services. The company develops high-capacity optical transport systems and packet-optical platforms that enable service providers, cloud operators and large enterprises to build, manage and scale their networks. Ciena’s product portfolio includes coherent optical solutions, packet networking platforms and a suite of network automation software designed to optimize bandwidth, reduce latency and simplify network operations.

In addition to hardware offerings, Ciena provides professional services and support, including network design, implementation and ongoing maintenance.