Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) shares reached a new 52-week high on Friday . The company traded as high as $599.50 and last traded at $578.5230, with a volume of 60571 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $587.23.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CIEN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore set a $330.00 price target on Ciena in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Zacks Research raised Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Ciena from $230.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Ciena from $425.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Ciena from $430.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ciena has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $398.83.

Ciena Stock Down 1.2%

The company has a quick ratio of 2.14, a current ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market cap of $82.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 368.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.24. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $473.40 and its 200 day moving average is $326.32.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.18. Ciena had a net margin of 4.47% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.64 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 5.12 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In other Ciena news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 5,000 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $405.00, for a total value of $2,025,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 46,341 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,768,105. The trade was a 9.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jason Phipps sold 22,014 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.80, for a total transaction of $9,021,337.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 68 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,866.40. This trade represents a 99.69% 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 have sold 44,174 shares of company stock worth $18,878,661 over the last quarter. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CIEN. Community Bank N.A. acquired a new position in Ciena in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Ciena by 71.0% in the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 106 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in Ciena by 50.4% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 200 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Ciena by 104.0% in the third quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 204 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hilltop National Bank acquired a new position in Ciena in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Company Profile

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.