Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Shares Up 11.9% – Time to Buy?

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN)’s stock price shot up 11.9% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $446.36 and last traded at $433.49. 3,974,880 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 35% from the average daily volume of 2,953,594 shares. The stock had previously closed at $387.53.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CIEN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ciena in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Ciena from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Rothschild & Co Redburn assumed coverage on shares of Ciena in a report on Friday, May 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $416.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Ciena from $425.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Ciena from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $530.56.

Ciena Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $61.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 144.50 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 2.73. The company has a fifty day moving average of $431.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $422.62.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.18. Ciena had a net margin of 7.87% and a return on equity of 18.15%. The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 39.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ciena Corporation will post 5.4 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In related news, CFO Marc D. Graff sold 126 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.20, for a total transaction of $58,741.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 126,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,186,421. This trade represents a 0.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 2,952 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $379.81, for a total value of $1,121,199.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 248,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $94,565,853.42. This trade represents a 1.17% 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. Insiders have sold 21,627 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,776 over the last three months. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ciena by 57.8% during the second quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 71 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC grew its holdings in Ciena by 2,100.0% during the first quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 88 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Bogart Wealth LLC raised its stake in Ciena by 635.7% in the 1st quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 103 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Ciena by 71.0% in the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 106 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, Western Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Ciena during the 1st quarter valued at $49,000. Institutional investors 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.