Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) Receives $237.50 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $237.50.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Ciena to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of Ciena to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. BNP Paribas set a $185.00 price target on shares of Ciena and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Raymond James Financial set a $240.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 24th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Thomas Michael Nevens sold 8,554 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.66, for a total transaction of $1,921,741.64. Following the sale, the director owned 9,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,116,746.52. This trade represents a 47.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.61, for a total value of $1,309,748.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 254,870 shares in the company, valued at $49,090,510.70. This trade represents a 2.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 47,412 shares of company stock valued at $8,877,100. 0.93% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Community Bank N.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena during the third quarter worth $25,000. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in Ciena during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ciena by 50.4% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 200 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 104.0% in the third quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 204 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ciena during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Stock Performance

CIEN stock opened at $239.99 on Friday. Ciena has a twelve month low of $49.21 and a twelve month high of $248.00. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a market cap of $33.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 282.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.17. The business’s fifty day moving average is $197.08 and its 200-day moving average is $136.13.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 11th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.15. Ciena had a return on equity of 8.38% and a net margin of 2.59%.The business had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.54 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Ciena will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

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.