Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Shares Up 5.6% – Here’s What Happened

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) shares traded up 5.6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The company traded as high as $363.97 and last traded at $361.11. 2,972,762 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 3% from the average session volume of 2,896,132 shares. The stock had previously closed at $341.95.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CIEN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Ciena in a research note on Friday, September 4th. CL King set a $347.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research report on Friday, September 4th. Evercore upgraded Ciena from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, September 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Ciena in a research report on Wednesday, September 30th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $440.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ciena currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $506.11.

Ciena Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 3.80 and a quick ratio of 3.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.78 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a fifty day moving average of $374.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $439.96.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 3rd. The communications equipment provider reported $2.11 earnings per share (EPS) 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.35 earnings per share. Ciena’s revenue for the quarter was up 37.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ciena Corporation will post 6.00 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Joseph Cumello sold 1,586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.52, for a total transaction of $568,612.72. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 39,570 shares in the company, valued at $14,186,636.40. This trade represents a 3.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Gary Smith sold 2,952 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.02, for a total transaction of $1,027,355.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 225,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $78,462,849.10. This represents a 1.29% decrease in their position. 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 36,014 shares of company stock worth $13,457,571. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ciena

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. SmartHarvest Portfolios LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. SmartHarvest Portfolios LLC now owns 1,142 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $443,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Ciena by 57.8% during the second quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 71 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. Triumph Capital Management raised its stake in Ciena by 15.2% during the second quarter. Triumph Capital Management now owns 205 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $101,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. Syon Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Ciena by 3.1% in the second quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 910 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $446,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Modera Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ciena by 1.8% in the first quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,685 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $654,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ciena Company Profile

Ciena Corporation (NYSE: CIEN) is a networking technology company that provides hardware, software, and services for communications networks. Its solutions help telecommunications carriers, cloud providers, enterprises, government organizations, and research institutions build, manage, and automate high-capacity networks.

The company’s portfolio includes optical networking systems, routing and switching platforms, network automation software, and network management tools. Ciena also offers consulting, implementation, maintenance, and professional services designed to support network planning, deployment, optimization, and ongoing operations.