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

Shares of Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eleven have issued a buy recommendation and three have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $153.20.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Ciena from $78.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ciena in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Ciena from $90.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Barclays lifted their target price on Ciena from $102.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Ciena from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th.

Insider Activity at Ciena

In other news, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.93, for a total value of $631,924.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 305,157 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,358,240.01. The trade was a 2.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Brodie Gage sold 350 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.36, for a total transaction of $59,276.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 40,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,884,992.08. The trade was a 0.85% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 51,935 shares of company stock worth $8,029,442. 0.93% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ciena

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. WBI Investments LLC purchased a new position in Ciena during the 3rd quarter valued at about $458,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena during the third quarter worth about $157,000. Caerus Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena during the third quarter worth about $312,000. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Ciena by 42.1% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 20,749 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,023,000 after purchasing an additional 6,150 shares during the period. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ciena by 1.7% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,772 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $695,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Price Performance

NYSE:CIEN opened at $196.05 on Wednesday. Ciena has a one year low of $49.21 and a one year high of $214.17. The stock has a market cap of $27.65 billion, a PE ratio of 202.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.17. 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 has a 50 day moving average price of $171.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $117.45.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 6th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter. Ciena had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 3.10%.The company had revenue of $844.44 million for the quarter. Equities research analysts expect that Ciena will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.