Citigroup Has Lowered Expectations for Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Stock Price

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) had its price target decreased by investment analysts at Citigroup from $98.00 to $75.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the communications equipment provider’s stock. Citigroup’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 26.26% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also commented on CIEN. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their target price on Ciena from $94.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. Northland Capmk upgraded Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $89.00 price target (down previously from $97.00) on shares of Ciena in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Northland Securities upgraded Ciena from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $60.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Ciena from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.62.

Ciena Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CIEN opened at $59.40 on Monday. Ciena has a 1-year low of $43.30 and a 1-year high of $101.44. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $70.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $73.97. The company has a market capitalization of $8.44 billion, a PE ratio of 104.21, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 3.55 and a quick ratio of 2.72.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In other news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 18,888 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.88, for a total transaction of $1,131,013.44. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 89,258 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,344,769.04. The trade was a 17.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.16, for a total value of $31,556.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 49,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,435,601.52. This represents a 0.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 42,138 shares of company stock worth $2,874,629 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Ciena by 195.9% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,626,153 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $392,345,000 after acquiring an additional 3,062,883 shares in the last quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc raised its position in Ciena by 113.7% during the fourth quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 2,169,406 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $183,987,000 after acquiring an additional 1,154,260 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in shares of Ciena by 4,215.9% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 899,828 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $76,314,000 after purchasing an additional 878,979 shares during the period. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena during the 4th quarter valued at about $56,997,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Ciena by 971.7% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 729,722 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $61,891,000 after buying an additional 661,630 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is 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.