Ciena’s (CIEN) “Buy” Rating Reaffirmed at Rosenblatt Securities

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by stock analysts at Rosenblatt Securities in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $175.00 target price on the communications equipment provider’s stock. Rosenblatt Securities’ price target would suggest a potential downside of 11.05% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Ciena from $105.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Ciena from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ciena in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $141.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ciena currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $156.20.

Ciena Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of CIEN traded up $3.39 on Thursday, reaching $196.74. The stock had a trading volume of 995,061 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,480,243. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a current ratio of 3.28. Ciena has a 12-month low of $49.21 and a 12-month high of $214.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 202.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $178.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $122.24.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 6th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $844.44 million during the quarter. Ciena had a net margin of 3.10% and a return on equity of 6.62%. Sell-side analysts predict that Ciena will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In related news, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.36, for a total value of $59,276.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 40,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,884,992.08. This trade represents a 0.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 1,863 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.14, for a total transaction of $262,943.82. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 43,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,143,965.34. This trade represents a 4.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 45,135 shares of company stock worth $7,397,518. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ciena

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CIEN. LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Ciena by 28.6% during the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 48,879 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,954,000 after buying an additional 10,856 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in shares of Ciena by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 10,978 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $663,000 after acquiring an additional 519 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ciena by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 12,868 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $778,000 after acquiring an additional 362 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its position in Ciena by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 478,550 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $28,919,000 after acquiring an additional 14,870 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in Ciena by 7.1% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 306,306 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $18,510,000 after purchasing an additional 20,307 shares during the period. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ciena Company Profile

Ciena Corporation provides hardware and software services for delivery of video, data, and voice traffic metro, aggregation, and access communications network worldwide. The company’s Networking Platforms segment offers convergence of coherent optical transport, open optical networking, optical transport network switching, IP routing, and switching services.