Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Reaches New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on the stock from $320.00 to $430.00. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Ciena traded as high as $423.98 and last traded at $424.6980, with a volume of 586743 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $407.90.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on CIEN. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Ciena from $279.00 to $372.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Ciena in a report on Thursday, March 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $425.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $250.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $305.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Northland Securities set a $190.00 target price on Ciena and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ciena presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $327.12.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In other Ciena news, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 11,929 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.82, for a total transaction of $2,741,522.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 49,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,370,344.50. This represents a 19.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Patrick Gallagher sold 11,618 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.45, for a total transaction of $2,642,514.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 50,184 shares in the company, valued at $11,414,350.80. This represents a 18.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 143,283 shares of company stock worth $34,372,491 over the last 90 days. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several 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 in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Ciena by 71.0% during 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. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in Ciena in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Assetmark Inc. increased 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 worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Ciena by 104.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 204 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ciena Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $302.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $227.52. The firm has a market cap of $60.45 billion, a PE ratio of 272.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.07.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.64 earnings per share. Ciena’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.