Bank of America Raises Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Price Target to $135.00

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) had its target price hoisted by equities research analysts at Bank of America from $95.00 to $135.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the communications equipment provider’s stock. Bank of America‘s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 15.81% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on CIEN. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Ciena to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Ciena from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and set a $70.00 target price (down previously from $73.00) on shares of Ciena in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on shares of Ciena from $78.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Northland Securities set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Ciena in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $114.32.

Ciena Stock Down 0.3%

NYSE:CIEN opened at $116.57 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $16.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 120.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 2.57 and a current ratio of 3.40. Ciena has a fifty-two week low of $49.21 and a fifty-two week high of $122.00. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.29.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.08). Ciena had a net margin of 3.10% and a return on equity of 6.61%. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.27 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Ciena will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In other news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.50, for a total value of $187,162.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 84,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,829,056.50. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.94, for a total transaction of $31,829.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 43,268 shares in the company, valued at $3,934,791.92. This represents a 0.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 39,769 shares of company stock worth $3,326,705. Company insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ciena

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in Ciena by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 534 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd raised its position in Ciena by 34.7% during the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 636 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in Ciena by 66.7% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 640 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ciena during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 9,162.5% during the 1st quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 741 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 733 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Ciena

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.