Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eighteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation, nine have given a buy recommendation and three have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $122.8571.

CIEN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. B. Riley reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $113.00 target price (up from $90.00) on shares of Ciena in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Ciena from $102.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Ciena from $120.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. Argus boosted their target price on Ciena from $100.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Ciena from $105.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In related news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.23, for a total value of $559,164.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 325,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,770,552.11. This trade represents a 2.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.00, for a total transaction of $46,200.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 42,918 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,665,176. The trade was a 0.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 45,724 shares of company stock valued at $5,336,431 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ciena

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Atreides Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ciena in the second quarter worth approximately $102,705,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Ciena in the 1st quarter valued at $70,065,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Ciena by 3,577.9% in the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,032,393 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $83,965,000 after buying an additional 1,004,323 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its stake in Ciena by 375.4% during the 2nd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,235,696 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $100,499,000 after acquiring an additional 975,792 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rokos Capital Management LLP boosted its holdings in Ciena by 546.9% during the 2nd quarter. Rokos Capital Management LLP now owns 997,425 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $81,106,000 after acquiring an additional 843,235 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Price Performance

Ciena stock opened at $153.30 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 158.04, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.15. Ciena has a 52-week low of $49.21 and a 52-week high of $159.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a current ratio of 3.28. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $112.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $87.21.

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.