Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Reaches New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $562.00 and last traded at $544.6940, with a volume of 1627899 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $538.51.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on CIEN. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $425.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Ciena from $355.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on shares of Ciena from $305.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Ciena from $286.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Ciena from $279.00 to $372.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $367.56.

Ciena Stock Performance

The stock’s fifty day moving average is $427.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $299.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 341.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a current ratio of 2.81.

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

Insider Activity at Ciena

In related news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 22,014 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.80, for a total transaction of $9,021,337.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 68 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,866.40. This trade represents a 99.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $537.74, for a total transaction of $1,587,408.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 275,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $148,126,398.14. The trade was a 1.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 42,974 shares of company stock valued at $17,418,863. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Community Bank N.A. acquired a new position in Ciena during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Ciena by 71.0% during the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 106 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in Ciena during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in Ciena by 50.4% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Ciena by 104.0% during 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 in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is 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.