Ciena Corporation (CIEN) – What Are Investment Firms Saying About This Stock?

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-two research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, fifteen have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $485.93.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CIEN. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut their price target on shares of Ciena from $538.43 to $406.81 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 14th. B. Riley Financial reduced their target price on shares of Ciena from $516.00 to $413.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 31st. CL King set a $347.00 price target on Ciena in a research report on Friday, September 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Ciena in a research note on Wednesday, September 30th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $440.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Northland Securities set a $550.00 price target on Ciena and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 17th.

Ciena Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of Ciena stock opened at $272.59 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $346.30 and a 200-day moving average of $402.93. Ciena has a 52-week low of $168.22 and a 52-week high of $637.51. The stock has a market cap of $38.66 billion, a PE ratio of 60.85, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 3.17 and a current ratio of 3.80.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 3rd. The communications equipment provider reported $2.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.38. Ciena had a return on equity of 25.33% and a net margin of 10.87%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.35 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 37.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ciena will post 6.00 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In other news, EVP Brodie Gage sold 1,200 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.08, for a total value of $412,896.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 34,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,723,837.84. The trade was a 3.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Jason Phipps sold 2,629 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.19, for a total value of $933,794.51. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 57,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,383,643.72. The trade was a 4.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 sold a total of 36,014 shares of company stock worth $13,216,540 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ciena

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Ciena in the second quarter valued at approximately $404,948,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in Ciena by 309.8% during the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 223,203 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $86,509,000 after acquiring an additional 168,736 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Ciena by 440.9% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 165,887 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $62,894,000 after purchasing an additional 135,218 shares in the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc lifted its stake in Ciena by 588.2% in the 3rd quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 134,651 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $47,373,000 after purchasing an additional 115,086 shares in the last quarter. Finally, E20 Capital Ltd bought a new position in Ciena in the 1st quarter valued at $41,676,000. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ciena Company Profile

Ciena is a communications networking company that develops equipment, software and services used to build and manage telecommunications networks. Its offerings support the movement of data across fiber-optic, subsea and other network infrastructure. The company’s products include optical transport systems, routing and switching equipment, and software for network automation and management. Ciena also provides consulting, implementation and support services to help customers plan, deploy and operate their networks.